Zone control methods and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for providing control over targeted secondary content based on a zone associated with a user. In one exemplary embodiment, a user request for primary content from a non-legacy device results in the delivery of the same secondary content which would have been provided had the request been generated at a legacy device (so-called “zone preservation”). To accomplish this, the devices are associated with a user&#39;s zone at a zone preservation server in communication with the server providing content to the devices. The zone preservation server associates each user with an advertisement zone identifier, and utilizes the identifier to direct the delivery of primary and secondary content. In another embodiment, a prescribed rule set for one or more zones is employed, such as where certain types of advertisements or secondary content are inserted given a particular device or user context.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to co-ownedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/766,753 of the same title filed Apr.23, 2010, issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,138 on Apr. 15, 2014, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of network serviceand content delivery and utilization, and specifically in one aspect todelivering such services and content to particular subsets or groupingswithin the user base of a content distribution network.

2. Description of Related Technology

In the context of network services, it is often highly desirable toprovide users of the network with ready and instant access to a varietyof different types of content, accessible at different locations, and ondifferent platforms. In many cases, it is also desirable to provide thesame user with “secondary” content (such as e.g., advertisements,promotions or “info-mercials”, related shorts, telescopinginformation/advertisements, hyperlinks, etc.). The secondary content maybe directly or indirectly related to the “primary” content which theuser selected in the first place (such as via a common theme or context,common persons of interest, common demographic factors, etc.), or can betotally unrelated.

Delivery of secondary content may comprise a major source of revenue forcommercial television or movie distributors, and for the networkoperator. For example, where the secondary content comprisesadvertisements, it may be a main source of income for nationaltelevision broadcasters and their local over-the-air affiliates. Cable,satellite, hybrid fiber-copper (HFCu), and other content distributionnetworks, as well as Internet content providers, also derive income fromthe sale of advertising time and insertion opportunities (or“impressions”).

Moreover, an advertiser may seek to maximize the return on theiradvertising investment by targeting specific users or groups of usersthat are likely to be most receptive to the commercial message embodiedin the advertisements. The aforementioned selective “targeting” anddelivery of content to e.g., subscribers in a cable network is generallywell known in the prior art. For example, it may be desirable to includecertain types of advertising at specific demographic or geographicsegments of an MSO's subscriber base. One way of targeting viewersinvolves selecting advertisements based on a geographical region inwhich the advertisement is to be delivered; i.e., a so-called“advertisement zone”. In other words, it is advantageous to providecertain advertising content to viewers in one local or regional areawhich is different than that provided to the viewers in a differentlocal or regional area.

For example, the advertisements may be limited by the geographic area inwhich a business operates. Hence, it typically only makes financialsense for an advertisement for that business to be provided ingeographical areas where the business is operated or provides services.Similar logic applies to the demographic, psychographic, and otherplanes; e.g., an advertisement for a super-high end sports car wouldlikely be wasted when delivered to lower middle-class households orsubscribers (which may or may not be correlated to geography), as wouldan advertisement for a feminine product delivered to a predominantlymale audience. Additionally, the context of the primary content may notbe compatible with particular types/themes of secondary content (e.g., aVOD movie having a non-violent theme might not mesh optimally withadvertisements for UFC sporting or boxing events, regardless ofdemographics or geography).

Hence, as used herein, the term “advertising zone” may include thedelivery of advertisements, promotions, or other secondary content withan actual geographic zone, a demographic “zone” or logical space, apsychographic zone or logical space, a user-based preference space, aprimary/secondary content context space, and so forth.

In a typical U.S. cable or terrestrial content distribution system,downstream RF channels used for transmission each occupy a 6 MHzspectral slot in the available bandwidth (between approximately 54 MHzand 870 MHz). Established analog and digital cable television servicesincluding standard definition (SD) broadcasts utilize this spectrum. Thespectrum is also shared with the deployment of next-generation servicessuch as video on-demand (VOD), high definition (HD) broadcast/simulcastservices, personal video recorder (PVR), and digital video recorder(DVR) services, as well as high-speed data (HSD). For this reason, theexact RF (physical) channel used for a given service may differ fromplant to plant. However, within a given cable plant, all homes that areelectrically connected to the same cable feed running through aneighborhood will receive the same downstream signal. For the purpose ofmanaging services, these homes are grouped into logical aggregations orclusters typically called “service groups”. Homes belonging to the sameservice group generally receive their services (e.g., broadcast or VODservice) on the same set of RF channels.

In current cable systems, a correct advertising zone may be determinedfor a legacy STB through use of a Service Group ID (Service_Group_id).Specifically, when the STB boots up, it learns its Service_Group_id fromthe edge QAM (eQAM) from which it receives video (each such eQAM ismanually configured to be associated with a Service_Group_id). When theVOD client on the STB requests a primary content element (e.g. video),the Service_Group_id is contained in the requesting message. Theapplication server receives the message, extracts the Service_Group_id,performs a lookup to determine which advertising zone is associated withthat Service_Group_id, and then instructs the VOD server to serve theappropriate version of the requested video which contains the secondarycontent associated with the STB's advertising zone.

This architecture, however, is generally not optimal for the delivery oftargeted content based on e.g., geographic or logical boundaries, sinceinter alia the level of targeting granularity that can be achieved isvery low (i.e., there is a lack of precision in determining who receiveswhat). Geographic boundaries (or zones) are not precise, and often donot overlap well with the network distribution configuration—a servicegroup may in fact straddle two or more geographic regions of interest(e.g., zip codes, metropolitan markets, etc). Accordingly, it is oftenimpossible for network operator to draw precise lines of demarcationbetween different subsets or groups of its viewers. As a simple case,consider where an operator wishes to deliver particular content to allof the residents of Town X. Depending on where Town X is situated inproximity to its neighbors, its residents may be served by multipledifferent distribution nodes or hubs of a cable system. Or, certainportions of the Town may be serviced by one system operator and otherportions by another. This can lead to very crude and imprecise deliveryof content, with a potentially significant rate of error (error herebeing defined as instances where content should have been delivered to aparticular premises but wasn't, or alternatively should not have beendelivered but was).

Further, this architecture (as well as other prior art architecturesenabling distribution of content to devices outside the traditional homenetwork) is not optimal for the delivery of targeted content to devicescapable of utilizing the now-ubiquitous Internet Protocol (so called “IPdevices”). Under the prior art, video destined for an IP device would beserved to that device by a web or Internet video streamer such as RealNetwork's Helix™ Server, Microsoft® SilverLight™, or Adobe® videoserver. These servers comprise separate entities from the VOD serversthat are used to serve on-demand content to non-IP devices, referred toherein as “legacy devices” (e.g., set-top boxes). Thus, according to theprior art, in order to serve content having the same insertedadvertisements to both IP and legacy devices, various operationally“painful” (aka complex) mechanisms are required for maintaining twoadvertisement insertion systems, two video server systems, and in somecases two advertisement campaign managers, each of the foregoing servingeither the legacy devices or the non-legacy (e.g., IP) devices, yetbeing synchronized to ensure that the same advertisements are insertedfor viewing on the separate platforms. As one may imagine, this approachis costly, time consuming, and prone to error.

Moreover, the MSO, content source (e.g., studio), and/or advertiser maywish to apply other rules to secondary content selection and insertion(i.e., in addition to or in place of the aforementioned zonepreservation). For instance, an MSO might want to give its subscriberthe ability to tailor the secondary content it receives based on e.g.,the subscriber's preferences, the subscriber's location, etc. Currentsecondary content selection and insertion paradigms are substantiallylimited in this regard, being based on Service_Group_id or the like aspreviously described.

Hence, apparatus and methods for providing primary content havingsecondary content inserted therein which is targeted to individual onesof a plurality of users such as based on geographic or other logicalboundaries (or alternatively the context or other attributes of theprimary content) are desired. Ideally, these apparatus and methods wouldprovide linear and non-linear content to non-legacy video-consumingdevices (including personal computers (PCs), digital set-top boxes(DSTBs), portable media devices (PMDs), etc.) with the advertisementsappropriate to the consumer's advertisement zone embedded therein. Theapparatus and methods would thereby enable the user of the devices tosee the same advertisement that he/she would see if that user hadrequested to view the same programming on his/her legacy device, oralternatively see other secondary content according to a prescribed ruleset or preference selected by the subscriber, MSO, content source, oreven the advertiser. Secondary content insertion methods and apparatuswhich targets the user, the device, and/or is related to the context ofthe primary content, would also ideally be provided such that it couldbe meshed with preservation of the desired advertising “zone” (orimposition of the alternative rule set or preferences) in a cohesivefashion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention satisfies the foregoing needs by providingimproved apparatus and methods for zone-preserved secondary contentdelivery such as may be used in a content distribution (e.g., cable,HFCu or satellite) network.

In a first aspect of the invention, a method of ensuring delivery ofprogram content and advertising content is disclosed. In one embodiment,the program content is delivered “on-demand” from a content deliverynetwork to an Internet Protocol (IP)-capable user device, theadvertising being selected based at least in part on an advertisementzone of a user of the IP-capable user device, and the method comprises:receiving a request for the program content from the IP capable userdevice, the request comprising at least a user identifier (UID);forwarding the UID to an entity of the network, the entity determiningat least a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the IP capable userdevice from the UID; receiving from the entity the MAC address;forwarding the MAC address to a network controller of the network, thenetwork controller determining at least a quadrature amplitudemodulation (QAM) identifier using the MAC address; receiving from thenetwork controller the QAM identifier; associating the QAM identifier tothe advertisement zone; and providing information regarding theadvertisement zone to a content server of the network, the contentserver providing the program and the advertising content to the IPcapable user device.

In one variant, the user of the IP-capable user device is able toreceive the same advertising content that the user would receive if therequest had originated from a non-IP device associated to the user.

In a second aspect of the invention, a method for use in a contentdelivery network is disclosed. In one embodiment, the content deliverynetwork is capable of providing program and advertising content to aplurality of legacy and non-legacy devices, and the method ensuresdelivery of zone-preserved advertising content. The method of thisembodiment comprises: receiving a request for program content from anon-legacy device, the device being associated with a user, the requestcomprising at least information identifying the user; forwarding theinformation identifying the user to at least one entity of the network,the entity being configured to associate the information to an addressof the user; receiving an indicator of the address from the at least oneentity; associating the indicator to at least one advertising zone; andproviding information regarding the at least one advertising zone to acontent server of the network, the content server being configured toprovide the program and the advertising content to the legacy andnon-legacy devices. The advertising content received at the non-legacydevice comprises the same content which would have been received by theuser at a legacy device.

In a third aspect of the invention, a server apparatus is disclosed. Inone embodiment, the apparatus is for use in a content distributionnetwork comprising at least a content server and a plurality of userdevices capable of receiving primary and secondary content therefrom,and comprises a secondary content zone preservation server apparatus. Inone variant, the apparatus comprises a first interface configured toreceive a request from at least one of the plurality of user devices,the request comprising at least user identification information; astorage entity configured to store a plurality of records thereon, therecords indicating at least one secondary content zone applicable toindividual ones of a plurality of device indicators; a digitalprocessor, the processor configured to run at least one computer programthereon, the computer program comprising a plurality of instructionswhich are configured to determine at least one secondary content zoneby: forwarding the user identification information to a network entitycapable of providing a device indicator; receiving the device indicator;and comparing the device indicator to the plurality of records toidentify at least one secondary content zone associated therewith; and asecond interface configured to provide data related to the at least onesecondary content zone to the content server.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, a method of delivering primary andsecondary content over a network is disclosed. In one embodiment, themethod comprises: receiving a request for the primary content from apacket-enabled user device; receiving entitlement information relatingto a subscriber making the request; using the entitlement information toassociate the subscriber to a subscriber account, the account indicatingthe subscriber is authorized to receive the requested primary content;and delivering the primary content to the subscriber in a packetizedformat via the packet-enabled device, the primary content havingsecondary content contained therein which is zone-controlled withrespect to delivery of the primary content via another non-packetenabled device of the subscriber.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, a method of operating a network isdisclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises: receiving a userpreference regarding advertising; creating a rule based on thepreference; and implementing the rule with respect to requests forprimary content that are received via one or more IP-enabled devices ofthe user that are located at a location different than the user'spremises.

In a sixth aspect of the invention, a method of operating a network isdisclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises: receiving a requestfor primary content from an IP-enabled device of a user of the network;determining a first location of the device; and selecting and insertingsecondary content that have one or more common attributes to secondarycontent that would be selected and inserted if the request were receivedfrom a non-IP enabled device of the user at a location different fromthe first location.

In a seventh aspect of the invention, network apparatus is disclosed. Inone embodiment, the apparatus comprises: a processor; a storage devicein data communication with the processor; and at least one computerprogram capable of being run on the processor and being stored in thestorage device. The at least one program is capable of, when executed:receiving a request for primary content originated from a user; and ifthe request originated from a legacy device of the user, determining anadvertising zone associated with that legacy device; or if the requestoriginated from an IP-enabled non-legacy device of the user, applyingthe same rules for advertising selection or insertion that are appliedfor the advertising zone associated with the legacy device.

In an eighth aspect of the invention, a system is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the system comprises a zone control and preservation server,a VOD server, and an entitlements server.

In a ninth aspect of the invention, a computer-readable apparatus isdisclosed. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises a medium havingone or more computer programs stored thereon, the one or more programsbeing configured to implement advertising zone control and/orpreservation within a content delivery network.

In a tenth aspect, a method of operating a network is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the method comprises: receiving a preference regardingadvertising; creating a rule based on the preference; and causing therule to be implemented with respect to requests for primary content thatare received via one or more IP-enabled devices associated to a userthat are located at a location different than a location of a premisesof the user.

In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus configured to operate in a networkis disclosed. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises: an interfacein communication with a mobile user device; a storage apparatus; and aprocessor configured to execute at least one computer program thereon,the computer program comprising a plurality of instructions configuredto, when executed: (i) receive a request for primary content from amobile user device; (ii) identify a user associated to the mobile userdevice; (iii) identify a zone associated to the user; (iv) cause one ormore of a plurality of secondary content elements to be inserted intothe requested primary content for delivery to the mobile user devicebased at least in part on a rule for the insertion thereof. The rulecomprises selection of the one or more secondary content elementsselected from among the plurality based at least in part on: acorrespondence of the one or more secondary content elements to theidentified zone associated to the user; and a time-based qualificationassociated to the one or more secondary content elements.

In a twelfth aspect, a network apparatus is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the network apparatus comprises: a processor; a storagedevice in data communication with the processor: and at least onecomputer program configured to run on the processor and stored in thestorage device, the at least one program comprising a plurality ofinstructions configured to, when executed: (i) receive a request forprimary content originated from a user, the request comprising at leastan address, and the primary content comprising a plurality of contentsegments; (ii) identify individual ones of a plurality of secondarycontent based on a secondary content zone of the user; and (iii) causeindividual ones of the plurality of content segments of the primarycontent to have the individual ones of the plurality of secondarycontent inserted therebetween. The plurality of instructions are furtherconfigured to: when the request originated from a legacy device of theuser, base said secondary content zone on the address associated withthe legacy device; and when the request originated from an IP-enablednon-legacy device of the user, utilize a secondary content zoneassociated with the legacy device.

In a thirteenth aspect, a network server apparatus is disclosed. In oneembodiment, the zone preservation server apparatus comprises: a firstinterface configured to receive a request from at least one of theplurality of user devices associated with the network, the requestcomprising at least user identification information; a storage entityconfigured to store a plurality of records thereon, the plurality ofrecords configured to indicate at least one secondary content zoneapplicable to individual ones of a plurality of device indicators; adigital processor, the processor configured to run at least one computerprogram thereon, the computer program comprising a plurality ofinstructions configured to, when executed: (i) forward the useridentification information to a network entity configured to provide adevice indicator; (ii) receive the device indicator; and (iii) comparethe device indicator to the plurality of records to identify at leastone secondary content zone associated therewith; and a second interfaceconfigured to pass data related to the at least one secondary contentzone to a content server, the content server configured to providecontent to at least the at least one user device.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will immediatelybe recognized by persons of ordinary skill in the art with reference tothe attached drawings and detailed description of exemplary embodimentsas given below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary HFC cablenetwork configuration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 1a is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplary localservice node configuration useful with the present invention.

FIG. 1b is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarybroadcast switched architecture (BSA) network useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 1c is a functional block diagram illustrating one exemplarypacketized content delivery network architecture useful with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2a is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary networkconfiguration for zone-preserved secondary content delivery according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2b is a functional block diagram illustrating a second exemplarynetwork configuration for zone-preserved secondary content delivery todevices outside an MSO network according to the present invention.

FIG. 2c is a functional block diagram illustrating a typical prior artsoftware architecture used for providing VOD content over a contentdistribution network.

FIG. 2d is a functional block diagram illustrating one embodiment of asoftware architecture for use in the exemplary network configurations ofFIGS. 2a and 2 b.

FIG. 3 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method forproviding zone-controlled secondary content delivery according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a logical flow diagram illustrating a second exemplary methodfor providing zone-controlled secondary content delivery according tothe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofutilizing the methods of FIGS. 3 and/or 4 to provide zone-controlledsecondary content delivery according to a rules set.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary zonepreservation server (ZCPS) for use in the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram illustrating an exemplary userdevice for use in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein like numerals refer tolike parts throughout.

As used herein, the term “application” refers generally to a unit ofexecutable software that implements a certain functionality or theme.The themes of applications vary broadly across any number of disciplinesand functions (such as on-demand content management, e-commercetransactions, brokerage transactions, home entertainment, calculatoretc.), and one application may have more than one theme. The unit ofexecutable software generally runs in a predetermined environment; forexample, the unit could comprise a downloadable Java Xlet™ that runswithin the JavaTV™ environment.

As used herein, the terms “client device” and “user device” include, butare not limited to, personal computers (PCs) and minicomputers, whetherdesktop, laptop, or otherwise, set-top boxes (e.g., DSTBs), mobiledevices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld computers,personal communicators, cellular telephones, wireless nodes (e.g., WiFiAPs or STAs), or literally any other device capable of interchangingdata with a network, as well as personal media devices (PMDs), andsmartphones.

As used herein, the term “codec” refers to an video, audio, or otherdata coding and/or decoding algorithm, process or apparatus including,without limitation, those of the MPEG (e.g., MPEG-1, MPEG-2,MPEG-4/H.264, etc.), Real (RealVideo, etc.), AC-3 (audio), DiVX,XViD/ViDX, Windows Media Video (e.g., WMV 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), ATI Videocodec, or VC-1 (SMPTE standard 421M) families.

As used herein, the term “computer program” or “software” is meant toinclude any sequence or human or machine cognizable steps which performa function. Such program may be rendered in virtually any programminglanguage or environment including, for example, C/C++, Fortran, COBOL,PASCAL, assembly language, markup languages (e.g., HTML, SGML, XML,VoXML), and the like, as well as object-oriented environments such asthe Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Java™ (includingJ2ME, Java Beans, etc.), Binary Runtime Environment (e.g., BREW), andthe like.

The terms “Customer Premises Equipment (CPE)” and “host device” refer toany type of electronic equipment located within a customer's or user'spremises and connected to a network. The term “host device” refersgenerally and without limitation to a terminal device that has access todigital television content via a satellite, cable, or terrestrialnetwork. The host device functionality may be integrated into a digitaltelevision (DTV) set or other type of consumer electronic device (e.g.,BluRay player). The term “customer premises equipment” (CPE) includeselectronic equipment such as for example set-top boxes (e.g., DSTBs),televisions, cable or other modems, HFCu receivers, embedded multimediaterminal adapters (eMTAs), whether stand-alone or integrated with otherdevices, Digital Video Recorders (DVR), gateways/storage devices(Furnace), and ITV Personal Computers.

As used herein, the term “display” means any type of device adapted todisplay information, including without limitation CRTs, LCDs, TFTs,plasma displays, LEDs, incandescent and fluorescent devices. Displaydevices may also include less dynamic devices such as, for example,printers, e-ink devices, and the like.

As used herein, the term “DVR” (digital video recorder) refers generallyto any type or recording mechanism and/or software environment wherebycontent sent over a network can be recorded and selectively recalled.Such DVR may be dedicated in nature, or part of a non-dedicated ormulti-function system and/or may be “virtual” or network-based ratherthan located at any customer premises.

As used herein, the term “DOCSIS” refers to any of the existing orplanned variants of the Data Over Cable Services InterfaceSpecification, including for example DOCSIS versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 and3.0.

As used herein, the term “headend” refers generally to a networkedsystem controlled by an operator (e.g., an MSO) that distributesprogramming to MSO clientele using client devices. Such programming mayinclude literally any information source/receiver including, inter alia,free-to-air TV channels, pay TV channels, on-demand/PPV, interactive TV,and the Internet.

As used herein, the terms “Internet” and “internet” are usedinterchangeably to refer to inter-networks including, withoutlimitation, the Internet.

As used herein, the term “memory” includes any type of integratedcircuit or other storage device adapted for storing digital dataincluding, without limitation, ROM. PROM, EEPROM, DRAM, SDRAM, DDR/2SDRAM, EDO/FPMS, RLDRAM, SRAM, “flash” memory (e.g., NAND/NOR), andPSRAM.

As used herein, the terms “microprocessor” and “digital processor” aremeant generally to include all types of digital processing devicesincluding, without limitation, digital signal processors (DSPs), reducedinstruction set computers (RISC), general-purpose (CISC) processors,microprocessors, gate arrays (e.g., FPGAs), PLDs, reconfigurable computefabrics (RCFs), array processors, secure microprocessors, andapplication-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Such digitalprocessors may be contained on a single unitary IC die, or distributedacross multiple components.

As used herein, the terms “MSO” or “multiple systems operator” referwithout limitation to a cable, satellite, or terrestrial networkprovider having infrastructure required to deliver services includingprogramming and data over those mediums.

As used herein, the teens “network” and “bearer network” refer generallyto any type of telecommunications or data network including, withoutlimitation, hybrid fiber coax (HFC) or hybrid fiber copper (HFCu)networks, satellite networks, telco networks, and data networks(including MANs, WANs, LANs, WLANs, internets, and intranets). Suchnetworks or portions thereof may utilize any one or more differenttopologies (e.g., ring, bus, star, loop, etc.), transmission media(e.g., wired/RF cable, RF wireless, millimeter wave, optical, etc.)and/or communications, PHY, or networking protocols (e.g., SONET,DOCSIS, IEEE Std. 802.3, ATM, X.25, Frame Relay, 3GPP, 3GPP2, WAP, SIP,UDP, FTP, RTP/RTCP, H.323, etc.).

As used herein, the term “network interface” refers to any signal, data,or software interface with a component, network or process including,without limitation, those of the FireWire (e.g., FW400, FW800, etc.),USB (e.g., USB 2.0, USB 3.0), Ethernet (e.g., 10/100, 10/100/1000(Gigabit Ethernet), 10-Gig-E, etc.), MoCA, Coaxsys (e.g., TVnet™), radiofrequency tuner (e.g., in-band or OOB, cable modem, etc.), Wi-Fi(802.11a, b, g, n), WiMAX (802.16), PAN (802.15), or IrDA families.

As used herein, the term “QAM” refers to modulation schemes used forsending signals over cable networks. Such modulation scheme might useany constellation level (e.g. QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, etc.)depending on details of a cable network. A QAM may also refer to aphysical channel modulated according to one or more of the schemes.

As used herein, the term “server” refers to any computerized component,system or entity regardless of form which is adapted to provide data,files, applications, content, or other services to one or more otherdevices or entities on a computer network.

As used herein, the term “service group” refers to either a group ofservice users (e.g. subscribers) or the resources shared by them in theform of entire cable RF signals, only the RF channels used to receivethe service or otherwise treated as a single logical unit by the networkfor resource assignment.

As used herein, the term “storage device” refers to without limitationcomputer hard drives, DVR device, memory, RAID devices or arrays,optical media (e.g., CD-ROMs, Laserdiscs, Blu-Ray, etc.), flash drivesor cards (e.g., USB or Compact Flash), or any other devices or mediacapable of storing content or other information.

As used herein, the term “Wi-Fi” refers to, without limitation, any ofthe variants of IEEE-Std. 802.11 or related standards including802.11a/b/g/n/v.

As used herein, the term “wireless” means any wireless signal, data,communication, or other interface including without limitation Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, 3G, HSDPA/HSUPA, TDMA, CDMA (e.g., IS-95A, WCDMA, etc.),FHSS, DSSS, GSM, PAN/802.15, WiMAX (802.16), 802.20, narrowband/FDMA,OFDM, PCS/DCS, FLO (i.e., forward-link only systems such as QualcommMediaFLO), analog cellular, CDPD, satellite systems, millimeter wave ormicrowave systems, acoustic, and infrared (i.e., IrDA).

As used herein, the term “zone” refers to, without limitation, anyactual, geographic, logical, or virtual zone or implementation rule asspecified by one or more criteria. For example, a geographic zone may bespecified by one or more postal zip codes, telephone areacodes/exchanges, or the like. Alternatively, a logical zone or rule maybe specified by membership in an organization, subscription to aparticular service, or the like.

Overview

The present invention discloses, inter alia, methods and apparatus forselectively providing targeted content to a user based at least in parton a logical, geographic, or other “zone” or space associated with theuser. In one embodiment, when the user requests primary content at anon-legacy device (e.g., an IP-capable device such as an IP-enabledDSTB, portable computer, or 3G/4G smartphone), the secondary contentthat is provided therewith is the same secondary content which wouldhave been provided to the user had the request been generated at alegacy device; i.e. the “zone” (whether geographic, demographic,psychographic, or otherwise) is preserved.

In one implementation of the invention, a non-legacy device isassociated with a user's zone by introducing a link between a serverproviding content to the device (e.g., a VOD server or web server) and aserver which has the ability to determine an appropriate zone for theuser. This is accomplished for example by associating each user with anadvertisement zone identifier. Alternatively, the foregoing may beaccomplished by associating each user with a device that is associatedwith a physical hub or node identifier, which, in turn, is associatedwith an advertisement zone identifier. In yet another variant, a servicegroup identifier (rather than advertisement zone identifier) may beused.

The exemplary apparatus for making the aforementioned association mayutilize the advertisement zone identifier (or service group identifier)to direct the delivery of primary and secondary content. For example, ifon-demand content is requested by an IP-enabled client device, signalsare sent to the VOD server (or web server) which indicate whichsecondary content (e.g., advertisements) should be placed in the primarycontent prior to delivery to the user, based on a determination of thezone associated with the user of the device.

Alternatively, in another embodiment of the invention, the zone maypurposely be not preserved, but rather implemented according to one ormore prescribed or dynamically determined rules which determineappropriate alternate secondary content based on e.g., a user, device,and/or primary content context. These rules may be determined by, interalia, (i) the advertiser or a designated campaign manager or entity;(ii) the primary content source; (iii) the MSO or other networkoperator; and/or (iv) the receiving subscriber themselves. Relationshipsbetween the zones or contexts may also be applied, such as whereadvertising for use with content requested by an IP-enabled device “offnetwork” maintains a common theme or attribute with that delivered withthe same content “on-net”, yet is not identical.

The present invention advantageously overcomes several disabilities ofthe prior art including the requirement for intricate, separate, and yetcoordinated systems for providing targeted secondary content delivery tosubscribers across the same or multiple different networks and types ofdevices (e.g., legacy and non-legacy devices), as well as the ability toselectively apply customized secondary content rule sets based on thecontext of a user, their device, and/or the primary content with whichthe secondary content is associated.

Additional secondary content targeting and insertion methods are alsodescribed, wherein the relationship between two ostensibly requestingdevices (e.g., legacy DSTB and IP-enabled device) is leveraged forselection of secondary content as part of an advertising campaignmanagement strategy.

An improved network server and CPE capable of implementing theaforementioned zone enforcement and targeting methodologies is alsodescribed, as well as mechanisms to implement operational and/orbusiness rules during system operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the apparatus and methods of the presentinvention are now described in detail. While these exemplary embodimentsare described in the context of the aforementioned hybrid fiber coax(HFC) cable system or satellite network architecture having multiplesystems operator (MSO), digital networking capability, IP deliverycapability, and plurality of client devices/CPE, the general principlesand advantages of the invention may be extended to other types ofnetworks and architectures, whether broadband, narrowband, wired orwireless, or otherwise, the following therefore being merely exemplaryin nature. For instance, the invention may be adapted for use onso-called hybrid fiber copper (HFCu) networks, or WiMAX (IEEE Std.802.16) wireless networks.

It will also be appreciated that while aspects of the invention aredescribed generally in the context of a consumer (i.e., home) end userdomain or premises, the invention may be readily adapted to other typesof environments (e.g., commercial/enterprise, government/military,university/educational, healthcare facility, etc.) as well. Myriad otherapplications are possible.

It is further noted that while described primarily in the context of acable system with 6 MHz QAM-modulated RF channels, the present inventionis applicable to literally any network topology or paradigm, and anyfrequency/bandwidth or modulation type, such as for example 8 MHzchannels. Furthermore, as referenced above, the invention is in no waylimited to traditional cable system frequencies (i.e., below 1 GHz), andin fact may be used with systems that operate above 1 GHz band in centerfrequency or bandwidth, to include without limitation so-calledultra-wideband systems.

Also, while certain aspects are described primarily in the context ofthe well-known IP or Internet Protocol (described in, inter alia, RFC791 and 2460), it will be appreciated that the present invention mayutilize other types of network and other protocols (and in fact bearernetworks to include other internets and intranets) to implement thedescribed functionality.

Moreover, while many aspects of the invention are described within thecontext of traditional linear broadcast or “on demand” services providedover e.g., a cable, satellite, of HFCu network, it will be appreciatedthat the concepts and apparatus described herein are readily extensibleto other content delivery paradigms which provide content, includingwithout limitation: (i) “pay per view”; and (ii) selection of a videofor play via the Internet, such as via the “YouTube®” or other similarwebsite.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will immediatelybe recognized by persons of ordinary skill in the art with reference tothe attached drawings and detailed description of exemplary embodimentsas given below.

Network—

FIG. 1 illustrates a typical content delivery network configuration withwhich the apparatus and methods of the present invention may be used.The various components of the network 100 include (i) one or more dataand application origination points 102; (ii) one or more content sources103, (iii) one or more application distribution servers 104; (iv) one ormore VOD servers 105, and (v) customer premises equipment (CPE) 106. Thedistribution server(s) 104, VOD servers 105 and CPE(s) 106 are connectedvia a bearer (e.g., HFC) network 101. A simple architecture comprisingone of each of the aforementioned components 102, 104, 105, 106 is shownin FIG. 1 for simplicity, although it will be recognized that comparablearchitectures with multiple origination points, distribution servers,VOD servers, and/or CPE devices (as well as different networktopologies) may be utilized consistent with the invention. For example,the headend architecture of FIG. 1a (described in greater detail below)may be used.

The data/application origination point 102 comprises any medium thatallows data and/or applications (such as a VOD-based or “Watch TV”application) to be transferred to a distribution server 104. This caninclude for example a third party data source, application vendorwebsite, CD-ROM, external network interface, mass storage device (e.g.,RAID system), etc. Such transference may be automatic, initiated uponthe occurrence of one or more specified events (such as the receipt of arequest packet or ACK), performed manually, or accomplished in anynumber of other modes readily recognized by those of ordinary skill.

The application distribution server 104 comprises a computer systemwhere such applications can enter the network system. Distributionservers are well known in the networking arts, and accordingly notdescribed further herein.

The VOD server 105 comprises a computer system where on-demand contentcan be received from one or more of the aforementioned data sources 102and enter the network system. These servers may generate the contentlocally, or alternatively act as a gateway or intermediary from adistant source.

The CPE 106 includes any equipment in the “customers' premises” (orother locations, whether local or remote to the distribution server 104)that can be accessed by a distribution server 104.

FIG. 1a illustrates an exemplary configuration for the distributionportion of the network of FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 1a , an exemplary local service node architectureis illustrated. As shown, a fiber network provides for communicationbetween a fiber node 178 and a network headend 150.

The network headend 150 of the architecture of FIG. 1a includes at leasta multiplexer-encrypter-modulator (MEM) 162 adapted to process orcondition content for transmission over the network. As previouslydescribed, information is carried across multiple channels. Thus, in oneembodiment, the MEM 162 is adapted to acquire the information for thecarried channels from various sources (e.g., content distributionservers including VOD servers). Typically, the channels being deliveredto the CPE 106 (“downstream”) are multiplexed together at the MEM 162.

As shown in FIG. 1a , the output of the MEM 162 (e.g., multiplexedcontent in the form of an MPTS) is transferred to the optical domain viaan optical transceiver 177 at the headend 150. However it is appreciatedthat the optical transceiver 177 may be located further downstream ofthe MEM 162 as well. The optical domain signals are then distributed toa fiber node 178, which then sends the signals over a distributionnetwork 180 to a plurality of local servicing nodes 182. The localservice nodes 182 each service a plurality of CPE 106, such as in aneighborhood. Intermediate RF and/or optical distribution systems may beincluded as well.

It will also be recognized, however, that the multiplexing operation(s)need not necessarily occur at the headend 150 (e.g., in theaforementioned MEM 162). For example, in one variant, at least a portionof the multiplexing is conducted at a BSA switching node or hub (seediscussion of FIG. 1b provided subsequently herein). As yet anotheralternative, a multi-location or multi-stage approach can be used, suchas that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/048,334,entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MULTI-STAGE MULTIPLEXING IN ANETWORK”, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,820, incorporated herein by referencein its entirety, which discloses inter cilia improved multiplexingapparatus and methods that allow such systems to dynamically compensatefor content (e.g., advertisements, promotions, or other programs) thatis inserted at a downstream network node such as a local hub, as well as“feed back” and “feed forward” mechanisms for transferring informationbetween multiplexing stages.

Content (e.g., audio, video, data, files, etc.) is provided in eachdownstream (in-band) channel associated with the relevant service group.To communicate with the headend or intermediary node (e.g., hub server),the CPE 106 may use the out-of-band (OOB) or DOCSIS channels andassociated protocols. The OCAP 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 (and subsequent)specification provides for exemplary networking protocols bothdownstream and upstream, although the invention is in no way limited tothese approaches.

The network headend 150 may further comprise a plurality of additionalcomponents and services omitted from FIG. 1a for clarity, includinge.g., billing modules (discussed herein below), a subscriber managementsystem (SMS) and CPE configuration management module, cable-modemtermination system (CMTS) and OOB system, etc.

“Switched” Networks—

FIG. 1b illustrates an exemplary “switched” network architecture alsouseful with the apparatus and features of the present invention. While aso-called “broadcast switched architecture” or BSA network isillustrated in this one exemplary embodiment, it will be recognized thatthe present invention is in no way limited to such architectures.

Switching architectures allow improved efficiency of bandwidth use forordinary digital broadcast programs. Ideally, the subscriber is unawareof any difference between programs delivered using a switched networkand ordinary streaming broadcast delivery.

In the present context, a switched network architecture can be used todeliver linear (e.g., broadcast) content, which may also have itsadvertising or other “zones” preserved (or subject to a prescribed rulesset) as previously discussed.

FIG. 1b shows the implementation details of one exemplary embodiment ofthis broadcast switched network architecture. Specifically, the headend150 contains switched broadcast control and media path functions 190,192; these element cooperating to control and feed, respectively,downstream or edge switching devices 194 at the hub site which are usedto selectively switch broadcast streams to various service groups. A BSAserver 196 is also disposed at the hub site, and implements functionsrelated to switching and bandwidth conservation (in conjunction with amanagement entity 198 disposed at the headend). An optical transportring 197 is utilized to distribute the dense wave-division multiplexed(DWDM) optical signals to each hub in an efficient fashion.

Co-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/956,688filed Sep. 20, 2001 and entitled “TECHNIQUE FOR EFFECTIVELY PROVIDINGPROGRAM MATERIAL IN A CABLE TELEVISION SYSTEM”, incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, describes one exemplary broadcast switcheddigital architecture useful with the present invention, although it willbe recognized by those of ordinary skill that other approaches andarchitectures may be substituted.

In addition to “broadcast” content (e.g., video programming), thesystems of FIGS. 1-1 b (and FIG. 1c , described below) also deliverInternet data services using the Internet protocol (IP), although otherprotocols and transport mechanisms of the type well known in the digitalcommunication art may be substituted. One exemplary delivery paradigmcomprises delivering MPEG-based video content, with the videotransported to user PCs (or IP-based STBs) over the aforementionedDOCSIS channels comprising MPEG (or other video codec such as H.264 orAVC) over IP over MPEG. That is, the higher layer MPEG-, H.264, or otherencoded content is encapsulated using an IP protocol, which thenutilizes an MPEG packetization of the type well known in the art fordelivery over the RF channels. In this fashion, a parallel delivery modeto the normal broadcast delivery exists; i.e., delivery of video contentboth over traditional downstream QAMs to the tuner of the user's STB orother receiver device for viewing on the television (i.e., via a moretraditional MPEG-2 encoded and multiplexed transport stream), and alsoas packetized IP data over the DOCSIS QAMs to the user's PC or otherIP-enabled device via the user's cable modem. As will be described ingreater detail below, other embodiments of the invention also allow fordistribution of IP-packetized data (e.g., MPEG-2 or H.264 encoded video)over non-QAM based delivery channels, such as e.g., externalpacket-switched internets or WANs/MANs.

Referring again to FIG. 1b , the IP packets associated with Internetservices are received by edge switch 194, and forwarded to the cablemodem termination system (CMTS) 199. The CMTS examines the packets, andforwards packets intended for the local network to the edge switch 194.Other packets are discarded or routed to another component.

The edge switch 194 forwards the packets receive from the CMTS 199 tothe QAM modulator 189, which transmits the packets on one or morephysical (QAM-modulated RF) channels to the CPE. The IP packets aretypically transmitted on RF channels that are different that the RFchannels used for the broadcast video and audio programming, althoughthis is not a requirement. The CPE 106 are each configured to monitorthe particular assigned RF channel (such as via a port or socketID/address, or other such mechanism) for IP packets intended for thesubscriber premises/address that they serve.

“Packetized” Networks—

While the foregoing network architectures described herein can (and infact do) carry packetized content (e.g., IP over MPEG for high-speeddata or Internet TV, MPEG2 packet content over QAM for MPTS, etc.), theyare often not optimized for such delivery. Hence, in accordance withanother embodiment of the present invention, a “packet optimized”delivery network is used for carriage of the packet content (e.g., IPTVcontent). FIG. 1c illustrates one exemplary implementation of such anetwork, in the context of a 3GPP IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) networkwith common control plane and service delivery platform (SDP), asdescribed in co-owned U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.61/256,903, filed Oct. 30, 2009 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FORPACKETIZED CONTENT DELIVERY OVER A CONTENT DELIVERY NETWORK,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Such a networkprovides significant enhancements in terms of common control ofdifferent services, implementation and management of content deliverysessions according to unicast or multicast models, etc.; however, it isappreciated that the various features of the present invention are in noway limited to any of the foregoing architectures.

Zone-Controlled Secondary Content Delivery Architecture—

FIG. 2a illustrates a first exemplary network architecture forzone-controlled secondary content delivery according to one embodimentof the present invention. As shown, the architecture generally comprisesa plurality of headend entities (e.g., installed at the headend 150 ofthe networks of FIGS. 1-1 c described above) for providing primary andsecondary content to a plurality of user devices. The user devices eachindividually belong to one or more “zones”. The zones may be determinedbased on e.g., an actual physical boundary, geographic, logical, virtualor other boundary, or may be defined by a specified criteria. Forexample, a geographic zone may be specified by a postal zip code, atelephone area code, and/or a city/state limit or boundary. In oneembodiment, the secondary content comprises advertising content which istargeted to the viewer based on a geographic region (or zone) in whichthe advertisement is to be broadcast, i.e., an advertisement zone. As aless intuitive example, a “zone” may be specified by membership in apopulation; e.g., all devices belonging to subscribers within a givendemographic, or all devices belonging to “premium” level subscribers,etc. Many other types of zones will be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill given the present disclosure.

As will be discussed in greater detail below, various user devices maybe configured to receive the primary and secondary content according tothe present invention. These devices include e.g., consumer premisesequipment (CPE) 106 such as DSTBs, personal computers (PC) 212,converged premises devices (CPD) 210 discussed below, portable mediadevices (PMD) 208 such as personal MP3 players, 3G/4G smartphones, etc.It is noted that while particular embodiments using individual ones ofthese devices may require different components, delivery methods, etc.,the present invention is intended to include delivery to each of thesetypes of device; hence, the aforementioned devices (as well as otherdevices capable of receiving content from the aforementioned networks)will herein collectively be referred to as “user device(s)”. Anexemplary user device is discussed below with respect to FIG. 7.

Although illustrated as providing primary content from an on-demandserver 105, it is appreciated that the apparatus and methods of theinvention may be further utilized to provide other types or forms ofprimary content. For example, so called “quick clips” content (describedin co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,126 issued Feb. 6, 2007 and entitled“TECHNIQUE FOR EFFECTIVELY ACCESSING PROGRAMMING LISTING INFORMATION INAN ENTERTAINMENT DELIVERY SYSTEM” incorporated herein by reference inits entirety), so-called “start-over” content (described in co-owned,co-pending U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0034171 entitled “TECHNIQUEFOR DELIVERING PROGRAMMING CONTENT BASED ON A MODIFIED NETWORK PERSONALVIDEO RECORDER SERVICE” incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety), so-called “lookback” content (as described in co-owned,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/913,064 filed Aug. 6,2004 and entitled “TECHNIQUE FOR DELIVERING PROGRAMMING CONTENT BASED ONA MODIFIED NETWORK PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER SERVICE” incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety), and/or so-called “remote DVR” content (asdiscussed in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,457,520 issued Nov. 25, 2008 andentitled “TECHNIQUE FOR PROVIDING A VIRTUAL DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDERSERVICE THROUGH A COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” incorporated herein byreference in its entirety) may be provided. Other types of content mayalso be utilized consistent with the invention as well, includingtraditional linear broadcast content.

As illustrated in FIG. 2a , an application server (AS) 104 and VODserver 105 are in communication with a zone control and preservationserver (ZCPS) 200. As will be discussed in greater detail below, theZCPS 200 of the present invention is in one implementation configured tofacilitate the use of legacy VOD servers 105 to provide on-demandcontent with appropriate (e.g., zone-preserved) targeted secondarycontent (e.g., advertisements) to legacy and non-legacy user devices.The secondary content may be provided from a secondary content source201 to the VOD server 105 for incorporation into the primary contentprovided thereby.

In one embodiment, the AS 104 comprises an application server of thetype discussed in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/263,015 filed Oct. 2, 2002 and entitled “NETWORK BASED DIGITALINFORMATION AND ENTERTAINMENT STORAGE AND DELIVERY SYSTEM”, incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. In one variant, the AS 104 is aMystro™ server device of the type utilized by the Assignee hereof,although it will be appreciated that other configurations may beutilized with equal success. The Mystro Application server is configuredto receive a request for content from the user device and extracttherefrom the service group identifier (Service_Group_id). The Mystroserver may then look up the zone associated with the service groupidentifier as discussed herein.

The AS 104 monitors and records the content reserved and viewed by auser, and thus can be used to vary secondary content inserted thereinprior to distributing a program to the user devices, e.g., CPE 106, PMD208, PC 212, etc. Hence, the AS 104 may assist in providingzone-preserved secondary content, and may further be useful inadditional targeting of secondary content (as will be discussed below).

Various methods are known in the art for providing secondary contentinsertion. For example, in one variant, the methods and apparatusdiscussed in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/766,433 filed on Apr. 23, 2010 and entitled “APPARATUS AND METHODSFOR DYNAMIC SECONDARY CONTENT AND DATA INSERTION AND DELIVERY”, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety, may be utilized inconjunction with the present invention. As discussed therein, a networkoperator's on-demand product portfolio (e.g., single selection/purchaseVOD, SVOD, FVOD, etc.) is leveraged as a platform for the insertion ofmultiple different types of targeted secondary content (including forexample zone-preserved secondary content), offered as placementopportunities to prospective or existing advertisers. In one variant, areplacement model is given whereby one or more segments of secondarycontent are used to replace one or more segments of secondary contentcurrently resident within a primary content element. For example, thesegments may be replaced “one-for-one”, “one-for-N”, or “N-for-one”. Inanother variant, a fill model may be used to insert secondary contentinto primary content which does not otherwise have secondary contentinserted therein, and/or may be used to increase the frequency ofinserted secondary content therein. Lastly, an additive model may beused to insert secondary content in a non-disruptive fashion intoprimary content which does not otherwise have secondary content insertedtherein, and/or non-disruptively increase the frequency of insertedsecondary content. In one example, the fill model may insert secondarycontent according to user-initiated interruptions, thereby appearingnon-disruptive to the viewer.

In another embodiment, secondary (e.g., advertising) content may beinserted using the methods and apparatus discussed in co-owned,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/974,700 filed on Oct. 15,2009 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REVENUE-OPTIMIZED DELIVERYOF CONTENT IN A NETWORK”, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. As discussed therein, when a user device tunes to aspecific program, it may have one or more specific revenue implicationsto the network operator. In one example, the device may be associatedwith a subscriber that the operator has identified as a target customerfor personal advertisement. The network operator can maximize oroptimize revenue by e.g., using an advertising “splicer” in conjunctionwith a network device such as a server (e.g., a VoD server). In oneexemplary embodiment, the splicer entity is located at the VOD or othercontent server, thereby requiring the acquisition of only one stream.The splicer splices targeted advertising content into a stream deliveredto that user; this “micro-zoned” output may be constructed at time ofprogram stream configuration. Hence using the VOD server as asplicer/stream generator for multicast feeds may assist in providing ahighly economical hardware model for the implementation of BSAmicrocasting. However, a “dedicated” splicer approach may also be usedfor the repurposing VOD assets to provide a less complex and moreelegant solution which reduces real-time acquisition (RTA) costssignificantly.

The splicer in the above embodiment may be of the type discussed inco-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/662,776filed Sep. 15, 2003 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADVERTISEMENTDELIVERY WITHIN A VIDEO TIME SHIFTING ARCHITECTURE” (published as patentpublication No. 20050060745 on Mar. 17, 2005), which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Exemplary advertising insertion andsplicer apparatus and methods are discussed therein in the context of,e.g., networked digital video recorder (NDVR) or VoD delivery paradigms.

The ZCPS 200 of FIG. 2a is further in communication with the billingsystem 152 and the Digital Network Control System (DNCS)/ContentManagement System (CMS), which are collectively referred to herein asthe “network controller” 204. The ZCPS 200 uses information gained fromthese entities for making secondary content zone preservation decisions.The outcome of these decisions is passed to the primary content server(e.g., VOD server 105) for implementation.

The VOD server 105 may further receive instruction regarding secondarycontent insertion from e.g., a campaign manager (not shown) such as thatdiscussed in co-owned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/503,772 filedon Jul. 15, 2009, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,935,721 on Jan. 13, 2015,and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Classifying an Audience in aContent Distribution Network”, which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety. As discussed therein, data relating to audience orviewer qualities is identified, created and distributed to anadvertisement management system and an advertisement decision maker. Anadvertising “inventory” is created and related to audiences by combiningthe audience data with advertisement placement opportunities. Theadvertising inventory is managed via e.g., a network-based managementsystem including a campaign manager. The apparatus and methods discussedare further adapted to manage advertising campaigns for one or moreadvertisement/promotional providers in order to, for example, increaseadvertising or associated sales revenue for an MSO, as well as toincrease the likelihood a particular advertiser will reach its targetedaudience as precisely as possible (and within any limitations of anadvertiser-MSO defined relationship).

Also illustrated in FIG. 2a , the VOD server 105 provides on-demandcontent to a plurality of user devices via the network 101. The userdevices serviced by the VOD server 105 may include e.g., legacy STB, IPdevices (such as PC 212), and other, non-legacy devices such as consumerpremises equipment (CPE) 106, converged premises devices (CPDs) 210,portable media devices (PMDs) 208, and media bridge 206. In oneembodiment, the VOD server 105 may be “multi-purposed” for delivery ofthe selected content to the IP devices (and the legacy devices) usingthe apparatus and methods discussed in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/284,427 filed on Nov. 21, 2005 and entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING VIDEO ON DEMAND AND NETWORK PVRFUNCTIONS USING IP STREAMING”, which is incorporated herein by referencein its entirety. Specifically, the foregoing application disclosesmethods and apparatus for supporting e.g., on-demand content services,using conventional non-IP based VOD servers. These methods andapparatus, through the use of a protocol converter and/or a contentredirector, can be used to enable a conventional VOD server to supplycontent to CPE device which support IP based content delivery and/orRSTP control of content delivery. The protocol converter can beimplemented for example as an RTSP-ISA Proxy. The RTSP Proxy convertsmessages between RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) to the appropriateISA protocol signal or another protocol format. The proxy module handlesthe conversion between these formats, and converts a received signal,e.g. message, into the format required by the device which responds byimplementing the operation requested by the signal. Other techniques maybe used consistent with the present invention as well.

The CPD 210 of FIG. 2a may for example be of the type described inco-owned and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/378,129filed Mar. 16, 2006 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR CENTRALIZEDCONTENT AND DATA DELIVERY”, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. As discussed therein, the CPD 210 comprises a WLAN (e.g.,Wi-Fi) and/or PAN (e.g., Bluetooth or 802.15) wireless interface.Packetized (e.g., IP) traffic may be exchanged between the CPD 210 and aPMD 208 via, e.g. the WLAN/PAN interface. Hence, in one embodiment, thePMD 208 may request on-demand content from the CPD 210 and in turn, viathe CPD 210 receive the requested content as well as zone-preservedsecondary content from the VOD server 105. The content is sent to thePMD 208 (which may include e.g., a cellular telephone, smartphone,personal media player, handheld computers, PDA, etc.) via a suitablecomplementary wireless interface via a wireless connection.

Also illustrated at FIG. 2, a media bridge apparatus 206 may be incommunication with the network 101. The media bridge apparatus 206 maybe for example of the type disclosed in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/480,597 filed Jun. 8, 2009 and entitled “MEDIABRIDGE APPARATUS AND METHODS”, incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. As discussed therein, the media bridging apparatus 206 acts asa connection between a PMD 208 (which may include e.g., an iPod™,handheld computer, smartphone, PDA, etc.) and a user's home network.This bridging apparatus 206 may be used, for example, to convert contentstored on the PMD 208 to a format capable of being presented on a user'sset-top box or other client device. The bridging apparatus 206 may alsobe utilized for transmitting content to the PMD 208 (such as byconverting the content to a format capable of being stored/presented onthe PMD 208) provided the user of the PMD 208 is authorized to receivethe content. In this manner, the PMD 208 may receive zone-preservedsecondary content from the VOD server 105 as discussed elsewhere herein.

In yet another embodiment (not shown), the CPE 106 may comprise apersonal video encoder (PVE) or comparable device. For example, the“Slingbox” device manufactured by Sling Media of San Mateo, Calif. isone such exemplary device which is capable of enabling a user to watchTV programming from various locations via an Internet-connected PC orsimilar device. The device is generally connected between thesubscriber's cable/satellite video drop and DSTB, and has a TV tunerinside. The user tunes to a given channel, and the device encodes thevideo streamed over the cable/satellite in Windows Media or similarformat. The encoded content is streamed to a client application on aWindows XP-based or similar PC via an IP network such as the Internet,and hence the user can view the data locally (i.e., at the samepremises) or remotely so long as they have access to the IP distributionnetwork. The delivered content may comprise both the requested contentas well as zone-preserved secondary content as discussed herein.

Referring now to FIG. 2b , a second exemplary network configuration forzone-based targeted secondary content delivery according to the presentinvention is illustrated. The network configuration of FIG. 2b is usedto provide content to a plurality of devices outside the MSO network(yet which are associated in some fashion with an MSO subscriber oraccount). As shown, the network of FIG. 2b further includes anentitlements server 214 for delivery of content to a non-MSO network216. The non-MSO network 216 may comprise for example a wireless (e.g.,WLAN) or cellular service provider network, an internet service providernetwork, etc., and is utilized to provide content to a plurality of userdevices including e.g., a PC 212, CPE 106 and PMD 208 outside thetraditional MSO network. According to this embodiment, the user devices(such as PC 212) request content from a web server 203 in communicationwith the VOD server 105 (via the non-MSO 216 network and the MSO network101) and acting as an intermediary therebetween. Additional oralternative devices may be directly or indirectly serviced by thenon-MSO network as well.

Since the content is leaving the MSO network, an entitlements server 214is utilized to ensure that the content is being delivered only toauthorized users. However it is appreciated that the entitlements server214 functions may be utilized in the embodiments discussed above wherethe content does not leave the MSO network (e.g., FIG. 2a ). Theentitlements server 214 comprises a plurality of data records whichindicate the devices that are associated with a subscriber's account.When a request is received, the entitlements server 214 is queried todetermine whether the requesting device is among the devices registeredto a subscriber.

In one embodiment, the entitlements of the user to receive requestedcontent are determined utilizing the systems and methods discussed inco-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/536,724 filedon Aug. 6, 2009 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGINGENTITLEMENTS TO DATA OVER A NETWORK”, incorporated herein by referencein its entirety. As discussed therein, in one embodiment, a request forcontent is received from the user device at the network 101. The requestis forwarded to a network entity which obtains information identifyingthe user account (such as subscriber identification number, accountnumber, etc.) and uses this information to request entitlements from anentitlements server 214 (also located at the headend in one embodiment).The entitlements server 214 accesses subscription information in asubscriber database to obtain sufficient information to determine theentitlements of the subscriber; and based on the results returned fromthe entitlements server 214, the network entity either grants or deniesthe request.

FIG. 2c illustrates an exemplary prior art software architecture forproviding VOD services within a content-based in network. As shown, anapplication running on the client device 222 communicates via thenetwork 101 to a session resource manager (SRM) 220 using the sessionsetup protocol (SSP). The SRM 220 is responsible for sessionestablishment, and controls the allocation of resources to the clientdevice. The SRM 220 controls the provision of e.g., VOD content usinginformation gained from the Billing System 152 and Business ManagementSystem (BMS) 218.

The client application 222 may request and receive application catalogs(having information regarding available content) from the applicationserver 104. The client application 222 may be utilized to enable a userto sort through a plurality of available content and select one or morecontent items for display, recording, etc.

As noted above, the SRM 220 is in communication with the BMS 218 via SSPand in communication with the Billing System 152 via a BillingOperations Support Systems (BOSS) interface. The BMS 218 and BillingSystem 152 communicate with one another via a Customer Billing Interface(CBI).

As previously discussed, a correct advertising zone may be determinedfor a legacy STB and its client application 222 through use of a ServiceGroup ID (Service_Group_id). Specifically, when the VOD client on theSTB requests a primary content element (e.g. video), theService_Group_id is contained in the requesting message. The applicationserver 104 receives the message, extracts the Service_Group_id, performsa lookup to determine which advertising zone is associated with thatService_Group_id, and then instructs the VOD server 105 to serve theappropriate version of the requested video which contains the secondarycontent associated with the STB's advertising zone. Content may then beprovided from the VOD server 105 to the client using lightweight streamcontrol protocol (LSCP).

As illustrated in FIG. 2c , the application server 104, CMS 204 and VODserver 105 communicate with one another and with the BMS 218 via anInteractive Services Architecture (ISA). The ISA may be the specificprotocol implemented by the Assignee hereof, however other architecturefor the communication between these entities enabling interactiveservices may be utilized as well.

Referring now to FIG. 2d , one embodiment of the improved softwarearchitecture according to the invention for use in the exemplary networkconfigurations of FIGS. 2a-2b is illustrated. It will be appreciatedthat while this architecture is based largely on the aforementionedextant ISA of FIG. 2c , this is merely for purposes of clarity ofillustration, and the invention is in no way limited to an ISA or anyother particular environment.

As shown in FIG. 2d , the legacy architecture of FIG. 2c is extended viathe addition of (i) an IP-enabled client application 223 running on anIP client device; (ii) an IP SRM 221; (iii) an IP stream server function217; (iv) an IP BMS 219, and (v) an IP-VOD proxy 213. The aforementionedcomponents (less the client application 223) can be considered to forman “IP headend” 215 of sorts. It is appreciated that in many instancesthe IP session resource manager may be optional. For example, the IP SRMmay be useful in networks where bandwidth needs to be reserved on the IPnetwork or where it is anticipated that demand for content could exceedthe number of individual streams that the IP video servers could handlesimultaneously.

In operation, the aforementioned components operate in a generallycomparable fashion to their counterpart legacy portion of thearchitecture, except for IP-encapsulated content. The IP client 223sends a request to the IP SRM, the latter which establishes a sessionwith the IP client 223. The IP stream server is used to receive contentstreams from the VOD server, and deliver the IP-encapsulated contentstream(s) via the session (subject to authorization by the IP BMS), andzone control/preservation is maintained via information exchangedbetween the legacy VOD server and the stream server via the IVP 213.

Using any of the architectures discussed in FIGS. 2a-2b (and 2 d),content may be delivered to a plurality of user devices. For example,VOD content is in certain networks commonly stored on the VOD server 105as either MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 containers wrapped in a MPEG-2 transportstream (MPEG-2TS). The VOD server 105 typically implements a well-knownset of communication protocols or interfaces in order to communicatewith the CPE (including e.g., legacy STB), with the BMS 218, CMS 204,and the application server 104. As noted above, the application server104 also may provide information to the user device about theprogramming available via the VOD system and the navigation of thatprogramming information.

As discussed above, the present invention advantageously allows e.g.,non-legacy devices (such as e.g., an IP device) to receive video contentwith the appropriate embedded advertisements from the legacy VOD storagesolutions (i.e., the VOD server 105 and/or web server 203). Thenon-legacy devices may also access video from the VOD server 105 ratherthan from an IP-specific video server as is needed in the prior art.

In one embodiment, the architectures discussed above (FIGS. 2a, 2b, 2d )use an IP-VOD Proxy (IVP) software process 213. The IVP translatessession control messages from the non-legacy IP devices into theprotocol formats used by the legacy device VOD platforms (such as e.g.,the SSCP discussed above). Session control messages include e.g.,messages requesting a video to play, stop, fast forward, rewind, pause,known as “trick-mode” commands, as well as other out-of-band controlmessages, such as fragment size negotiation, etc.

The actual video files on the VOD server 105 go through a transportlayer adaptation process that converts the aforementioned MPEG2-TS intothe appropriate protocols for delivery to a non-legacy device (forexample converting to Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), RTMPT,RTMPTS, RTMFP, RTP/RTCP, etc.). The IVP process 213 can also translateISA messages destined to and from the SRM 220 into another format; e.g.,packet cable multimedia (PCMM)-based COPS messages to allocate QoSresources on e.g., a DOCSIS network. The IVP can also be used to“pretend” to deliver messages to/from the SRM 220 when the video trafficis destined for a device that is served by an unmanaged (e.g., non-MSO)network such as the Internet, upon which no QoS reservations are made inorder to enable the SRM 220 to track the resources of the VOD server105.

In the exemplary embodiment, the proxy functionality of the IVP process213 is of the type discussed in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/284,427 entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FORPROVIDING VIDEO ON DEMAND AND NETWORK PVR FUNCTIONS USING IP STREAMING”,previously incorporated herein (e.g., an RTSP-ISA Proxy Module),although other approaches and configurations may be used with equalsuccess.

Zone-Controlled Secondary Content Delivery Methods—

Under the prior art approaches discussed above, correct advertisementzones are determined for legacy user devices by learning the ServiceGroup ID (Service_Group_id) of the device from the edge quadratureamplitude modulator (eQAM) to which it receives video when the deviceboots up. Each eQAM is manually configured to be associated with aService_Group_id. When the VOD client on the user device requests avideo, the Service_Group_id is contained in the requesting message. Theapplication server 104 receives the message, extracts theService_Group_id, performs a lookup to determine which advertisementzone is associated with that Service_Group_id, and then instructs theVOD server 105 to serve the appropriate version of the requested videowhich contains the advertisements associated with the requestingdevice's advertisement zone.

However, as noted, the prior art does not provide mechanisms forensuring that the correct advertisements are sent to the correctnon-legacy devices from a “legacy” VOD server 105. The present inventionprovides methods for performing this and other functions (i.e.,zone-controlled secondary content delivery).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a first exemplary embodiment of the method forzone-preserved secondary content delivery is illustrated. Per step 302,a user request for primary content delivery is received. The userrequest includes a user identifier (UID). The UID for each individualuser and is stored in a network entity, such as the Identity ManagementSystem (IDMS) (see FIG. 1c ) or entitlements server 214 (FIG. 2b ). Forexample, suppose a PC or other IP device user requests a video byrequesting a URL associated with some video name; the video storefront(which may be managed by the application server 104) passes the UID tothe ZCPS 200 (FIG. 2a ); the ZCPS 200 contains a mapping of the eQAMidentifier (eQAM_id) to service group identifier (Service_Group_id), anda mapping of the Service_Group_id to an advertisement zone identifier(advertisement zone_id). Each UID is associated with subscriberinformation in the billing system 152, which is associated with theMedia Access Control (MAC) addresses of all of the devices on thatsubscriber's account. The MAC addresses are in turn associated with ahub identifier (hub_id) in the network controller 204 (e.g., the DNCS,the DAC, or the CMS); the hub_id is associated with an eQAM_id. Hence,at step 304, the ZCPS 200 forwards the UID to the billing system 152 toreceive the MAC address which is forwarded to the network controller204. The network controller 204 then returns the eQAM_id to the ZCPS 200(step 306).

Next, per step 308, the ZCPS 200 uses the eQAM_id to determine theuser's associated Service_Group_id and/or advertisement zone_id.

Lastly, at step 310, the ZCPS 200 uses the Service_Group_id and/oradvertisement zone_id to direct content delivery. For example, theon-demand video server 105 is instructed by the ZCPS 200 (via theaforementioned Service_Group_id and/or advertisement zone_id) to providethe appropriate video stream to the PC or IP device that is associatedwith the service group identity and/or advertisement zone identity. Itis noted that the video storefront (e.g., as controlled by theapplication server 104) may be configured to request a video based uponeither the service group identity and/or advertisement zone identity. Itis further noted that multiple service groups can be associated with asingle advertisement zone.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a second exemplary embodiment of the method forensuring that the correct advertisements are sent to the correctnon-legacy devices from a legacy VOD server 105 is illustrated. Themethod of FIG. 4 advantageously does not depend on using a deviceassociated with the user (e.g., subscriber) to derive an advertisementzone identity. Hence, the method of FIG. 4 may be useful for providingcontent to e.g., shared or otherwise un-registered IP devices. In thismanner, a subscriber may access content from any device and, inconjunction, receive advertisements which the subscriber would havereceived on his/her legacy device had he/she requested that same content(or alternatively according to a prescribed rule set).

Per step 402 of the method, a user request is received from a clientdevice for access to content. As above, the request includes the UID.

Next, per step 404, the ZCPS 200 forwards the UID to billing system 152.

At step 406, the billing system 152 returns a subscriber billing addressinformation associated with the UID.

Then, per step 408, the ZCPS 200 uses the subscriber billing addressinformation (or a portion thereof such as zip code, area code, etc.) tomap to a service group and/or advertisement zone associated with thegeographic area of the service address. The service_group_id and/oradvertisement zone_id is then utilized to direct content delivery at theVOD server 105 (step 410).

Delivery to a Remote Network—

In another embodiment of the invention, the determination of anadvertisement zone may be utilized in conjunction with the insertion ofadvertisements according to a user's actual location (versus e.g., theiraddress of record as in FIG. 4). For example, suppose programming andadvertising content that is available to a subscriber over the cablenetwork is also made available via other (secondary) networks such asthe Internet, LANs/WANs/MANs, a wireless service provider (WSP) network,cellular service provider (CSP) network, or even a satellite network(see e.g., FIG. 2b ). A user seeking access to content over the non-MSOnetwork may, rather than receiving the same advertisements the userwould have received had the request originated from a legacy device,instead receive advertisements specific to the actual location of theuser (rather than the location of the legacy devices). A promotion for asports event for a local team, or local news, etc. might have limitedapplicability to a subscriber who is not currently located in theoriginal geographic area. Accordingly, one embodiment of the inventionuses secondary content that contains geographic metadata when stored,the metadata being used as the basis for insertion based on a particulargeographic location determined by e.g., the MAC and IP address of therequesting device (see FIG. 5 below), or other mechanisms such as forexample: (i) association with a WiFi AP having known location; (ii)association or communication with a WiMAX cell or base station having aknown location; or (iii) receipt of GPS coordinates that can be used bythe user device (or another entity, such as one in the MSO network) tolocate the requesting device.

In one variant, the methods and apparatus discussed in co-owned,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/440,490 entitled“PERSONAL CONTENT SERVER APPARATUS AND METHODS” and filed May 24, 2006may be utilized to provide the aforementioned secondary contentinsertion functions based on the location of the user.

The secondary content inserted for delivery to devices outside the MSOnetwork may further be implemented or restricted according to a rulesset. For example, a user may specify that, when content is requestedfrom a “remote” network or location, advertisements specific to theuser's location should be provided. Alternatively, the user may specifythat he/she would like to continue receiving advertisements specific tohis/her “home” location, even though the request is received fromoutside that geographic area. The MSO may also specify rules for thedelivery of secondary (e.g., advertising) content, for example, the MSOmay dictate whether the advertisements should match the geographic areaof delivery (e.g., the remote location) or should match the geographicarea generally associated with the user (e.g., the user's “home”).

Additionally, rule sets may provide time-based qualifications for thedelivery of secondary content. For example, the rule sets (whetherselected by the user or the MSO, or some combination thereof) mayindicate that secondary content which has a particular time/dateassociation may only be provided if the delivery time/date matches, oris prior to the relevant period. In one example, it may be determinedthat a user should receive an advertisement for “American Idol”; theadvertisement has “date relevance” data which indicates that theadvertised event (the particular broadcast of “American Idol” with whichthe advertisement is contextually associated) will occur at 9:00 P.M. inthe Pacific Time Zone (which corresponds to 6:00 P.M Eastern). Supposealso that the user travels to New York (Eastern Time Zone) and the timeof the delivery of the advertisement is 7:00 P.M. Eastern. Since thebroadcast time for the advertised event has passed before the user is toreceive the advertisement, this advertisement will not be presented tothe user. Hence, the rules set may prohibit delivery of “old”advertisements (e.g., advertisements which have date/time expirations).

Referring now to FIG. 5, an exemplary method for applying a rules set tothe delivery of zone-controlled secondary content in a remote network isillustrated. Per step 502 of the method, it is determined whether therequest for content has originated from the user's premises or from aremote location. This may be determined based on e.g., the pathwaythrough which the request was received. For example, if the pathwayindicates that the request merely traversed MSO entities, it may beassumed the user requested content from his/her premises; if however,the pathway of the request indicates that the request traversed non-MSOentities (such as a web server), then it is likely the user requestedcontent from a location outside the his/her premises. Other techniquesmay be used as well, such as those noted previously herein (i.e., IPaddress, WiFi AP location, WiMAX association, GPS, etc.).

If the request originated from the user premises, per step 504 themethod of either FIG. 3 or FIG. 4 is then used to determine anappropriate advertisement zone for the user or the user device.

Per step 506, the advertisements appropriate to the advertisement zoneare then inserted into the requested content and the method continues.

If, at step 502, it is determined that the user is not making therequest from his/her premises (i.e., the user is at a remote location),then per step 510 the user is located if not already done (using theaforementioned methods), and at step 520 the user is validated. Steps510 and 520 may be performed simultaneously, or serially. Alternatively,only one of the steps may be performed, and the other comprising anoptional step.

The user is located (step 510) by e.g., reviewing the IP addressassociated to the received request and determining at step 512 whetherthe MAC address of the requesting device matches a plurality of MACaddress associated to a subscriber (such as is contained in a subscriberor account profile maintained by the MSO in the billing system orentitlements server 214 of FIG. 2a ). If the MAC address does not match,in one embodiment, the method proceeds to the user login validation step(step 522). However, if the MAC address matches an address associated toa subscriber, then, per step 514, the advertisement zone is determined.As discussed above, the advertisement zone is determined in one variantusing either of the methods discussed above (FIGS. 3 and 4).

At step 516, the rules set is applied. The rules set, as noted above,comprises one or more MSO- or user-specified rules which dictate theparameters of delivery of secondary content (e.g., advertisements). Therules set may be based on date/time expirations of certain content, thusdisabling the delivery of expired content. In addition (or as analternative), the rules set may specify whether the receivedadvertisements should be related to the context of the primary content,related to the context of the network, related to the remote geographiclocation which the user is currently located, or related to a usercontext (e.g., at home, at work, visiting a client on the road, etc.).

At step 518, according to the advertisement zone and rules set, theappropriate advertisements are inserted into the requested content andthe method continues.

The user is validated (step 520) by prompting the user to enter login orother validating information (such as a user identification andpassword). In one embodiment, the user login validation may utilize themethods and apparatus discussed in co-owned, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/536,724 filed on Aug. 6, 2009 and entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING ENTITLEMENTS TO DATA OVER A NETWORK”,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As discussedtherein, in one embodiment, a request for content is received from userdevice (e.g., PC 212, PMD 208, etc.) at an entity of the contentdistribution network. The network entity obtains information identifyingthe user account (such as subscriber identification number, accountnumber, etc.) and uses this information to request entitlements from anentitlements server (located at the network headend 150 in oneembodiment). Based on the results returned from the entitlements server,the network entity determines whether the login information is valid(step 522) and either grants or denies the request. The entitlementsserver accesses subscription information in a subscriber database toobtain sufficient information to determine the entitlements of thesubscriber.

Note that the use of a user-specific login also advantageously enablesuser-specific targeted advertising (as may the MAC address of thedevice), if the MSO maintains data to that level of granularity. Forinstance, multiple different IP devices registered under a givensubscriber account may correspond to individual family members, eachhaving different preferences, demographics, psychographics, etc. If theMSO makes this association with data received, it can more finely targetadvertising to the requesting individual. This is particularly usefulsince account-based demographics, etc. may not be representative of allmembers of the population in that account. For example, a householdassociated with a subscription may have a gross or family income above$300K per year, yet the actual requester (e.g., child) may have nodisposable income whatsoever, and hence an advertisement for a high endsports car or the like would be pointless and a waste of resources andimpressions.

If the request is denied (the login information is not valid), then anerror message will be displayed to the user at step 524. If the requestis granted (the login information is valid), the method will proceed tostep 514, where the advertisement zone is determined, the rules set isapplied (step 516) and the appropriate advertisements are inserted (step518).

The primary and secondary content may also be manipulated as part of theforegoing methods to perform all relevant advertising formats andschemes (e.g., bookends, replacement, pause, telescoping, etc.) on thecontent transferred by the network or from other content source. See,e.g., co-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/662,776 filed Sep. 15, 2003 and entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FORADVERTISEMENT DELIVERY WITHIN A VIDEO TIME SHIFTING ARCHITECTURE”,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, which describesexemplary methods and apparatus for implementing the foregoing (andother) schemes and formats within the context of a content-basednetwork.

Additional Targeting Mechanisms—

In another aspect of the invention, the secondary content may be furthertargeted based on one or more user- or content-specific characteristicse.g., may be targeted to the user, their use context, and/or device fromwhich a request is received, as well as to the primary contentrequested. This capability is leveraged by the functionality provided bythe present invention, including inter alia the ability of a user toissue a request from an on-net or off-net IP-based device, and have thatdevice and/or user validated and associated with an advertising or otherzone. For example, once the pool of available advertising or othersecondary content is narrowed by the relevant “zone” (as discussedabove), the pool may be further narrowed based on e.g., demographics,psychographics, etc. by using a dynamic secondary content (e.g.,advertisement) insertion process which gives the network operator theopportunity to provide the secondary content tailored to or which islogically proximate to the context of the primary content (e.g.,programming).

As used herein, the term “logically proximate” refers to secondarycontent which bears some direct or indirect logical relationship to theprimary content. For example, a logically proximate advertisement forthe movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” might be one for Disneyland, whichincludes a “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme ride.

Such functionality also allows for the substitution or replacement ofsecondary content which is less suited to the present context orenvironment, or which is dated (see discussion above regardingtime-sensitive content), even though it may by synchronized or“preserved” with respect to what the subscriber might receive over theirlegacy STB. In the context of the foregoing exemplary promotion, thepromotion might carry “date relevance” data or the like in the form ofmetadata, which can be read and evaluated by the ZCPS 200 or otherentity.

Hence, information may be obtained, for example, relating to thedemographics, or psychographics of the subscriber, capabilities of therequesting device, etc. in order to target the secondary content to belogically related to the context of the primary content, whether inconjunction with a defined “zone” (e.g., geographic zone), orindependently.

The user context may also be exploited; e.g., knowing based on time ofday which members of a household is most likely to be viewing theprogramming, etc., or making use of a user-supplied classification orcontext (e.g., at work, traveling, etc.). In another variant, thenetwork context may also be exploited; i.e., delivery of secondarycontent which is properly encoded to be delivered over the relevantdistribution path, which fits the allotted time, which maximizesbandwidth or profits, is compatible with the user's requesting device(e.g., 3G smartphone, which may only have certain codecs, etc.), and soforth.

For instance, the present invention contemplates zone “pairs” or“tuples” which slice the targeting in two or more dimensions. In onesuch implementation, a zone pair might comprise the cross-section orsubset of users which: (i) are associated with a given geographicregion, and (ii) are associated with a given demographic. As anotherexample, the pair might comprise (i) a given demographic, and (ii) agiven psychographic. As yet another example, a tuple might comprise {a,b, c}, where:

a=a geographic zone;

b=a demographic factor; and

c=a primary content or user “use” context.

Myriad other permutations and combinations will be recognized by thoseof ordinary skill given the present disclosure.

For example, the apparatus and methods discussed in co-owned, co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/198,620 filed on Aug. 4, 2005 andentitled 7“METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTEXT-SPECIFIC CONTENT DELIVERY”,which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, may beutilized consistent with the present invention. As discussed therein,contextually-related “secondary” content (e.g., advertising messages,useful informational links, etc.) may be provided in association withother primary content selected by the user. In one exemplary embodiment,the secondary content is selected at least in part based on metadataassociated with the primary content. The metadata may be provided by,e.g., the content originator or the network operator, and is sent to anetwork entity (e.g., advertising server) which returns contextuallyspecific advertising matching the search terms. In one variant, thesearch term is simply one or more keywords drawn from the metadata andused as an input to a search engine. In another variant, moresophisticated analysis of the metadata is performed so as to ostensiblyreduce the number of irrelevant or marginally relevant “hits” returnedby the search engine/advertising server. Hence the pool of availablesecondary content may be narrowed not only by advertisement zone, butalso by the context of the primary content.

Still further, the methods and apparatus discussed in co-owned,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/503,710 filed Jul. 15,2009 and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETED SECONDARY CONTENTINSERTION”, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety,may be utilized as well. This embodiment is particularly useful intargeting content to a set of subscribers, such as those serviced by alocal service node. As discussed therein, content targeted to aparticular audience within a content-based network may be identified andinserted. For instance, the content is identified by analyzing audienceor viewer qualities (i.e., psychographic, geographic, or demographic,characteristic or classifications) at a particular insertion opportunityusing an advertisement management system (and associated advertisementdecision maker process). The audience information can in one embodimentbe gathered in real-time directly from users' CPE (i.e., set top boxes,cable modems, PC, etc.), thereby allowing information to be gatheredwhich is specific to actual content viewers. Historical or otherinformation relating to particular subscribers (or subscribers ingeneral, or even the broader general population) may also be utilized incharacterizing an audience. The advertisement management system thenuses the gathered audience information to correlate particularadvertisements or other content thereto. In one variant, an algorithm isused to analyze audience qualifiers (i.e., attributes of an audience orits behavior), and determine the “proximity” of a given audience (e.g.,that currently viewing a program where an impending placementopportunity will occur) to a set of audience qualifiers of a targetaudience of an advertisement. The placement opportunity can then beoptimized for one or more variables (e.g., proximity, revenue,impressions, etc.) by selecting the best fitting advertisement for thatopportunity within the advertisement zone of the requesting device.

The aforementioned methods and apparatus can advantageously providecontent across multiple delivery platforms utilizing substantiallyextant network infrastructure and components compatible with a number ofdifferent client device and delivery systems including both wired andwireless technologies.

It will also be recognized that other types of information may also beincluded with the primary content that is delivered to the requester inthe remote or visited network. For example, one variant of the inventioncomprises the inclusion of closed caption (cc) data, such as for examplethrough use of the methods and apparatus described in co-pending andco-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/298,247 entitled “CaptionData Delivery Apparatus and Methods” filed Dec. 9, 2005 and incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. Similarly, emergency alert (e.g.,EAS) data can be included for example using the methods and apparatus ofco-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/299,169entitled “Emergency Alert Data Delivery Apparatus and Methods” alsofiled Dec. 9, 2005 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.This data may be geographically or contextually selected; e.g., EASmessages for the actual location of the requesting device, as describedin the foregoing disclosure.

Zone Matching—

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the “zones”discussed herein (such as e.g., advertisement zones) may be matched upto respective switched digital service group “zones”. For example, oneor more of the herein-discussed zones may be correlated to or restrictedby what previously comprised a single service group (or alternativelytwo or more service groups that comprise a subset of the zone), therebygenerally decreasing the size of each zone (measured by number ofcustomers in each) from what it would be without such correlation orrestriction.

Bandwidth constraints are reduced as a result of the zone matchingdiscussed above. More specifically, the needs of the constituents of thesmaller groups are often more similar to one another in terms of: (i)requested primary content; (ii) targeted secondary content, or both.Hence, similar primary and/or secondary content may be distributed tothe zone across fewer channels, requiring less bandwidth.

It is further appreciated that the zoning approaches discussed herein,such as those based on service group correlation/restriction describedabove, may be re-aggregated and/or re-distributed to create differentunits than those associated with the current zone(s). For instance, ifone or more patterns of viewership become apparent, this may be used asthe basis for re-organizing one or more zones, such as based ongeography.

Start-Over and Lookback Variants—

As noted above, the primary content may also be used in conjunction withso-called “start-over” content (as described in previously incorporatedco-owned, co-pending U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0034171 entitled“TECHNIQUE FOR DELIVERING PROGRAMMING CONTENT BASED ON A MODIFIEDNETWORK PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER SERVICE”) and/or “lookback” content (asdescribed in previously incorporated co-owned, co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/913,064 filed Aug. 6, 2004 and entitled“TECHNIQUE FOR DELIVERING PROGRAMMING CONTENT BASED ON A MODIFIEDNETWORK PERSONAL VIDEO RECORDER SERVICE”).

The aforementioned services “harvest” linear broadcast content forstorage on the VOD platforms (e.g., VOD server 105). The harvestedstart-over and/or lookback content is then made available to subscriberdevices during a window of time after the original airing time. Forstart-over content, the window may be much smaller and may be morestrictly tied to the broadcast time. For example, if the program Lost(episode #100) is broadcast from 8 PM to 9 PM on some Tuesday night, afile is captured that contains that episode of Lost, placed on the MSOVOD server, and made available for some period of time (for example, 3days after the original airing time as “lookback” content). After thetime period expires, the content is no longer available.

In one embodiment, secondary content which was originally included inthe broadcast remains embedded in the video file that is stored on theVOD server 105. Further, some of the content may be “ad-insertable”,meaning that the MSO has the rights and ability to insert advertisements(or other secondary content) into the programming at pre-determinedintervals.

According to the present invention, the aforementioned stored primarycontent may be provided to devices in different advertisement zones.Hence, for each advertisement insertion opportunity, a differentadvertisement may be inserted depending on the different geographicregion of the requesting devices.

For example, suppose a single MSO division is divided into 20 zones; theepisode of “Lost” may be stored 20 different times, with each storedinstance containing the advertisements appropriate for each of the 20zones. Alternatively, the program may be stored only one time on the VODservers 105 in a series of components or segments which begin and end atadvertisement insertion breaks. According to this embodiment, a playlistmay then be created which “stitches” the pieces of the primary contentand the different advertisements (different based on zone) together toprovide the program with the correct embedded advertisements appropriatefor the subscriber's advertisement zone.

Server Device—

Referring now to FIG. 6, one exemplary embodiment of a zone control(preservation) server 200 of the type shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b herein isdescribed. It will be appreciated that while described in the context ofproviding zone-based targeted secondary content in conjunction with theprovision of on-demand (OD) primary content, the server 200 may beadapted for use with other primary content delivery mechanisms withinthe network as well (e.g., linear or switched broadcast, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 6, the exemplary server device 200 generally comprisesan OpenCable-compliant network server module including a digitalprocessor(s) 604, RAM 605, mass storage device 606, and a plurality ofinterfaces 608 for connection with other network apparatus such as LANs,the local service node hardware, IP routers and other packet networkdevices, network management and provisioning systems, local PCs, etc.Other components which may be utilized within the server device 200(depending on where it is employed and how it is physically implemented)include RF tuner stages, modulators/demodulators, encryption/decryption,amplifiers, board level electronic components, as well as mediaprocessors and other specialized SoC or ASIC devices. Support forvarious processing layers and protocols (e.g., 802.3, DOCSIS MAC, OOBchannels, DHCP, SNMP, UDP, SNMP, H.323/RTP/RTCP, VoIP, SIP, GigE, etc.)may also be provided as required.

The digital processor 604 comprises at least one zonecontrol/preservation application 610. The preservation application 610comprises a series of executable code which runs on the processor 604and when executed provide for the zone control and preservationfunctionality discussed above. For example, in one embodiment (see e.g.,FIG. 3), the application 610 may be configured to: (i) receive the userrequest including UID, (ii) forward the UID to the billing system 152,(iii) receive the MAC address, (iv) forward the MAC address to thenetwork controller 204, (v) receive the eQAM_id, and (vi) consult e.g.,the mapping tables 612 to determine the user's associatedService_Group_id and/or advertisement zone identity based on theeQAM_id. The preservation application 610 may further be configured touse Service_Group_id and/or advertisement zone identity to generate oneor more messages which are transmitted to the VOD server 105 and directthe delivery of secondary content therefrom.

In another embodiment (see e.g., FIG. 4), the zone preservationapplication 610 may be configured to: (i) receive the user requestincluding UID, (ii) forward the UID to the billing system 152, (iii)receive the subscriber billing address, and (iv) consult e.g., themapping tables 612 to determine the user's associated Service_Group_idand/or advertisement zone identity based on the subscriber billingaddress. As above, the preservation application 610 may further beconfigured to use Service_Group_id and/or advertisement zone identity togenerate one or more messages which are transmitted to the VOD server105 and direct the delivery of secondary content therefrom.

The mapping tables 612 may include e.g., a first set of tables mappingone or more eQAM_ids to a Service_Group_id and a second set of tablesmapping each Service_Group_id to an advertisement zone_id.

The zone control/preservation application 610 may be configured toperform the user location and user validation functionalities discussedabove with respect to FIG. 5. Hence, the application may enable the ZCPS200 or entitlements server to perform a determination of whether the MACaddress of a requesting device matches those registered to a user,and/or perform a determination of whether the user-entered logininformation is valid. Based on these determinations, the application 610may proceed with the aforementioned advertisement zone determinationfunctions discussed above.

In another embodiment, the ZCPS 200 may further comprise a rule setimplementation application (not shown). This application enables theZCPS 200 to utilize both MSO- and user-specified rules of the typepreviously described herein in the selection of advertisements fordelivery to a user. Storage of the rules sets may be at the ZCPS 200, oralternatively, at another entity in communication therewith. It isfurther appreciated that access to the stored rules may be granted tocertain MSO entities and/or the user upon propervalidation/verification.

The ZCPS 200 of FIG. 6 may take any number of physical forms, comprisingfor example one of a plurality of discrete modules or cards within a hubor head-end component of the type well known in the art. The server 200may also comprise firmware, either alone or in combination with otherhardware/software components such as those previously described.Alternatively, the server 200 may be a stand-alone device disposed atthe hub, head-end, or other location. Numerous other configurations maybe used. The ZCPS 200 may also be integrated with other types ofcomponents (such as satellite transceivers, encoders/decoders, etc.) andform factors if desired.

It can also be appreciated that the methods of the present invention maybe practiced using any configuration or combination of hardware,firmware, or software, and may be disposed within one or any number ofdifferent physical or logical entities. For example, the zone controlpreservation functionality described above may take the form of one ormore computer programs running on a single device disposed within thenetwork (such as the ZCPS 200). As yet another example, portions of thefunctionality may be rendered as a dedicated or application specific IC(ASIC) having code running thereon, or a distributed application acrossmultiple entities (e.g., ZCPS, VOD server, billing system, entitlementsserver, etc.). Myriad different configurations for practicing the serverdevice of the invention will be recognized by those of ordinary skill inthe network arts provided the present disclosure.

Exemplary CPE—

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of an IP-enabled user device 700according to the present invention. As noted above, the term “userdevice” is used generally to refer to any number of client apparatus(including without limitation CPE 106, PC 212, CPD 210, PMD 208, etc.)useable with the present invention, the following embodiment beingmerely exemplary.

As shown in the simplified diagram of FIG. 7, the device 700 generallycomprises a network interface 702 for communication with the contentprovisioning network 101 (or non-MSO network 216 (not shown)). Thedevice comprises an OpenCable-compliant embedded system (e.g., DSTB)having an RF front end (including tuner and demodulator/decryptors) forinterface with the aforementioned network 101. In one variant, interfacewith the network comprises tuning to and demodulating one or more DOCSISQAMs over which the IP-encapsulated packet content streams are received.

The user device 700 further includes one or more digital processor(s)704, storage device 706, and a plurality of optional interfaces 708(e.g., video/audio interfaces, IEEE-1394 “FireWire”, USB, HDMI,serial/parallel ports, etc.) for interface with other end-user apparatussuch as televisions, personal electronics, computers, WiFi or othernetwork hubs/routers, etc. Various other components may also optionallybe utilized within the device 700 include various processing layers(e.g., DOCSIS MAC or DAVIC OOB channel, MPEG, etc.) as well as mediaprocessors and other specialized SoC or ASIC devices. In certainembodiments, the device 700 may also comprise an integrated HD decoder,thereby relieving any connected monitors or other devices from therequirement of having such a decoder. These additional components andfunctionality are well known to those of ordinary skill in the cable andembedded system fields, and accordingly not described further herein.

The processor 704 of the exemplary user device 700 comprises at leastone client application 223. The client application 223 comprises aseries of executable code which run on the processor 704 and whenexecuted facilitate the zone preservation functionality discussed above.For example, the client application 223 may be configured to: (i)communicate with the SRM 220, (ii) request and receive the applicationcatalogs, (iii) provide a UID to the network 101 (and ultimately theZCPS 200), and (iv) receive content from the network 101.

The device 700 of FIG. 7 may also be provided with an OCAP compliantapplication and Java-based middleware which, inter alia, manages theoperation of the device and applications running thereon. It will berecognized by those of ordinary skill that myriad different device andsoftware architectures may be used consistent with the tuning andchannel request functions of the present invention. For example,different middlewares (e.g., MHP, ARIB, or ACAP) may be used in place ofthe OCAP middleware discussed herein. Alternatively, no middleware maybe needed, the aforementioned functions simply being provided by thebrowser.

The exemplary device 700 may further comprise a conventional “Watch TV”application or the like, which services those program or user channelsavailable over the network. The Watch TV application, residing inmemory, provides such functions as channel navigation control, channelselection in response to a channel change event, etc.

In another embodiment, the Watch TV application further comprises allnecessary functionality need to support both the channel requestfeatures previously described herein (i.e., comprises the clientapplication 223 previously described).

The device 700 also includes a TCP/IP (Transport ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol) transport layer/network layer stack whichenables IP decapsulation of received content (and optionallyencapsulation of content received from e.g., a connected media capturedevice).

It will be recognized that while an IP enabled device for use “on net”(i.e., IP DSTB) having an RF stage and tuner is described herein, othertypes of IP enabled devices may be configured for “off net”communication as previously described, such as via another PHY such asWiFi, WiMAX, Ethernet LAN, cellular (e.g., UMTS, LTE/LTE-A, GSM), DSL,HFCu, satellite, and so forth.

It will also be recognized that while the foregoing methodology andapparatus is described in the context of a server-centric targetingparadigm (i.e., where the zone preservation server 200 or other networkserver performs the zone preservation functions), a more CPE-centricapproach can be utilized, such as where the CPE generates or otherwiseis assigned an identifier indicating an advertisement zone. The CPE maythen provide the identifier to the ZCPS 200 which uses this informationto direct the VOD or other content server's secondary content insertiondecisions. For instance, the CPE might have protocol support formessaging between itself and another network entity to obtain therequisite identifier, or alternatively may be able of generating theidentifier itself, such as based on a priori knowledge of its placementwithin the network, knowing its geographic location independently (suchas association with a wireless node, or via AGPS), or yet otherapproaches.

Operations/Business Rules Engine—

In another aspect of the invention, the aforementioned zonecontrol/preservation server 200 (e.g., rendered as one or more computerprograms) includes a so-called “rules” engine. This engine comprises, inan exemplary embodiment, a series of software routines running on theZCPS 200 or other associated hardware/firmware environment adapted tocontrol the operation of the algorithms previously described. Theserules may also be fully integrated within the ZCPS 200 itself, andcontrolled via e.g., a GUI on a PC connected thereto. In effect, therules engine comprises a supervisory entity which monitors andselectively controls, via the ZCPS 200, the control/preservation andsecondary content targeting functions at a higher level, so as toimplement desired operational or business rules.

The rules engine can be considered an overlay of sorts to the ZCPS 200algorithms. For example, the ZCPS 200 may invoke certain operationalprotocols or decision processes based on requests received from the userdevices, demographic data, geographic data, etc. However, theseprocesses may not always be compatible with higher level business oroperational goals, such as maximizing profit or system reliability.Hence, when imposed, the business/operational rules can be used todynamically (or even manually) control the operation of the ZCPS 200 andthe messages which are relayed therefrom to the content servers (e.g.,VOD server 105). The rules may be, e.g., operational orbusiness-oriented in nature, and may also be applied selectively interms of time of day, duration, specific local areas, or even at theindividual user level. They may also implement the aforementioned user-or MSO-specified rule sets.

For example, one rule implemented by the rules engine may comprise onlyproviding zone preservation or targeted advertising to certain classesof subscribers (e.g., those at a premium level of service, since thesesubscribers may be considered to have the highest revenue potential orlikelihood of responding to the targeted advertisement).

Another rule might impose a moratorium on establishing or generating newversions of available content (directed towards different zones) until acertain minimum threshold of requests have been received.

Yet another rule might comprise enforcement of the aforementionedtime-based restrictions; e.g., prohibit delivery of advertisements whichhave date/time expirations.

It will also be appreciated that advertisers may be tiered with onlycertain tier advertisements being delivered to devices in certain zones.For example, it may be known through historical usage or purchase datathat certain zip codes or geographic zones will tend to respond betterto increased targeted advertising than other zip codes (say, due to theincreased disposable income of residents in that zip code). Hence, anadvertiser's budget is most effectively used when their advertisementsare included in streams which are requested by devices in such zipcodes. An MSO might also be able to charge a premium rate foradvertising within such channels, since the advertiser's expected yieldis typically higher in these rather than other zip codes. Accordingly,the MSO might invoke a business rule (such as via the business engine ofthe ZCPS 200) which selectively provides only “premium” advertisementsto the best zones (such as by zip code, etc.), while providingsecond-tier advertisements into other zones.

It will be appreciated that less “binary” approaches than thosedescribed above may be utilized consistent with the invention, whetherin the context of providing zone-based targeting, other targetedadvertising, etc. Specifically, the foregoing approach to zone-basedtargeted advertising effectively provides one of two states for thestream containing the targeted advertisement; i.e., delivered or notdelivered. This approach has the advantage of simplicity, in that littlereal intelligence is required for implementation. In one embodiment,however, a supervisory process (e.g., algorithm) may comprise a fuzzylogic, Bayesian, or similar approach to classify individual requestingdevice into one of two categories in terms of a particular advertisementcontext (e.g., “enthusiast” or “non-enthusiast”), which can then be usedas the sole (or at least partial) basis for delivering or not deliveringa particular advertisement to the designated device. This logic may beused on top of or in conjunction with zone-based logic to further targetadvertisements within a zone (e.g., by demographics, psychographies,etc.). The categorization may be based, for example, on aggregatedhistoric (anecdotal) data for that subscriber which is pooledirrespective of other considerations (such as, e.g., the day of theweek, the particular family member viewing, and/or the time of day).

Additional business rules useful with the invention may include theutilization of individual or device-specific controls. Suppose forexample that certain content is inappropriate for certain viewers (e.g.,adult programming which is inappropriate for children). Accordingly,when it is determined that the receiving device is owned by or currentlybeing used by a person who is among those people for whom the content isinappropriate, such content will not be delivered thereto. In thecontext of the aforementioned advertisement insertion, if the personreceiving content is determined to be a child (such as by determiningthe device is owned or operated by a child), inappropriateadvertisements, or interactive TV advertisements, are not provided tothat child/device and/or to that zone. The determination of who isreceiving the content may be made in a variety of ways, such as e.g.:(i) via a user-specific login or profile; (ii) via the request beingassociated with a member of a subscriber account (e.g., a mobile deviceknown to be owned and operated by a member of a family), and/or (iii)via association with a user-specific environment (see, e.g., co-ownedand co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/414,554 file Mar. 30,2009 entitled “Personal Media Channel Apparatus and Methods”,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, which describes auser- or group-specific profile environment and supporting virtualchannel approach).

In another exemplary embodiment, advertisements may be selected forinsertion based on whether that advertisement was viewed by thecustomer, zone, and/or device previously. In other words, if a zone haspreviously received a first advertisement (or alternatively, receivedand has had one or more confirmed viewings of the receivedadvertisement), the advertisement insertion processes (discussed above)may select a second advertisement rather than providing the firstadvertisement again.

Many other approaches and combinations are envisaged consistent with theinvention, as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill whenprovided this disclosure.

It will be recognized that while certain aspects of the invention aredescribed in terms of a specific sequence of steps of a method, thesedescriptions are only illustrative of the broader methods of theinvention, and may be modified as required by the particularapplication. Certain steps may be rendered unnecessary or optional undercertain circumstances. Additionally, certain steps or functionality maybe added to the disclosed embodiments, or the order of performance oftwo or more steps permuted. All such variations are considered to beencompassed within the invention disclosed and claimed herein.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features of the invention as applied to various embodiments,it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, and changesin the form and details of the device or process illustrated may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Theforegoing description is of the best mode presently contemplated ofcarrying out the invention. This description is in no way meant to belimiting, but rather should be taken as illustrative of the generalprinciples of the invention. The scope of the invention should bedetermined with reference to the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computerized apparatus configured to operate ina network, the computerized apparatus comprising: interface apparatusconfigured for data communication with a mobile user device; processorapparatus; network interface apparatus in data communication with theprocessor apparatus; and storage apparatus in data communication withthe processor apparatus, the storage apparatus comprising at least onecomputer program configured to, when executed on the processorapparatus: receive data representative of a request for digitallyrendered primary content from the mobile user device, the datarepresentative of the request comprising user identification data;obtain, based at least in part on the user identification data,subscriber billing address information relating to a user associatedwith the mobile user device; utilize at least a portion of thesubscriber billing address information to identify a zone associated tothe user; cause utilization of data relating to the identified zone toenforce a rule regarding selection and transmission of appropriateadvertising to non-legacy client devices, including the mobile userdevice, the transmission from a legacy video on-demand (VOD) server; andcause at least one digitally rendered secondary content element to beinserted into the requested digitally rendered primary content fordelivery to the mobile user device based at least in part on stored datarelating to the rule.
 2. The computerized apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe mobile user device comprises an Internet Protocol (IP)-enableddevice, and the data representative of the request for the digitallyrendered primary content is received from the mobile user devicedisposed in a geographic location outside a geographic location of thezone associated to the user.
 3. The computerized apparatus of claim 1,wherein: the rule further requires selection of the at least onedigitally rendered secondary content element selected from among aplurality of digitally rendered secondary content elements is furtherbased at least in part on data relating to a correspondence of one ormore tiers of the at least one digitally rendered secondary contentelement to the identified zone associated to the user, thecorrespondence based at least in part on a comparison of the one or moretiers of the at least one digitally rendered secondary content elementto a profit-based qualification associated with the identified zone,such that one or more of the plurality of digitally rendered secondarycontent elements of a first tier are delivered to a first zone and havea greater number of targeting opportunities than those of one or more ofthe plurality of digitally rendered secondary content elements of asecond tier that are delivered to a second zone, and the first zonehaving profitability opportunities greater that those of the secondzone; and the profit-based qualification is associated with disposableincomes of one or more subscribers of the network, the one or moresubscribers residing in the identified zone associated to the user. 4.The computerized apparatus of claim 1, wherein the digitally renderedprimary content is stored as a plurality of data segments, and thedelivery of the digitally rendered primary content to the mobile userdevice comprises creation of a single data stream comprising theplurality of segments having data of the at least one digitally renderedsecondary content element inserted between at least two of the pluralityof data segments.
 5. The computerized apparatus of claim 1, wherein theplurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed onthe processor apparatus: evaluate a subscription level of the user; andbased at least on the evaluation indicating that the subscription leveldoes not meet a prescribed criterion, cause insertion of the at leastone digitally rendered secondary content element into the requesteddigitally rendered primary content for delivery to the mobile userdevice irrespective of the rule.
 6. A computerized method of operating anetwork, comprising: receiving data representative of a request fordigitally rendered primary content from a mobile client device, the datarepresentative of the request comprising user identification data;transmitting the user identification data to a network computerizedprocess; based at least on the transmitting, receiving subscriberbilling address data associated with the user identification data;utilizing at least a portion of the subscriber billing address data toidentify a zone associated with a user of the mobile client device;algorithmically creating a rule regarding selection and transmission ofappropriate digitally rendered secondary content elements to non-legacyclient devices, including the mobile client device, wherein theselection is based at least in part on the identified zone, and thetransmission is configured to be effected from a legacy video on-demand(VOD) server apparatus; and causing at least one digitally renderedsecondary content element to be inserted into the requested digitallyrendered primary content for delivery to the mobile client device basedat least in part on the rule.
 7. The computerized method of claim 6,further comprising: receiving data regarding one or more placementopportunities for insertion of the at least one digitally renderedsecondary content element into the digitally rendered primary content;and receiving data regarding an audience associated with the one or moreplacement opportunities for the at least one digitally renderedsecondary content element, the audience comprising the user of themobile client device; wherein the algorithmically creating the rulecomprises utilizing at least (i) the data regarding the one or moreplacement opportunities, and (ii) the data regarding the audience. 8.The computerized method of claim 7, further comprising causing storageof the digitally rendered primary content as a plurality of datasegments; wherein: the causing of the at least one digitally renderedsecondary content element to be inserted into the requested digitallyrendered primary content comprises creating a single data streamcomprising the plurality of segments, the single stream data having theat least one digitally rendered secondary content element insertedbetween at least two of the data segments of the stream at the one ormore placement opportunities; the data regarding one or more placementopportunities comprises data indicative of at least one restriction to aselection of the at least one of at least one digitally renderedsecondary content element, the at least one restriction comprising arestriction of the selection to only digitally rendered secondarycontent elements optimized for respective ones of a plurality ofdelivery platform types, the plurality of delivery platform typescomprising at least one of: VOD or pay-per-view (PPV), lineartelevision, interactive television, Internet, or electronic orinteractive program guides; and the data regarding the audiencecomprises demographic data.
 9. The computerized method of claim 6,wherein: the receiving the data representative of the request for thedigitally rendered primary content from the mobile client devicecomprises receiving the data representative of the request for thedigitally rendered primary content from the mobile client device whichis then-currently located in a geographic location outside of ageographic zone where a computerized legacy device of the user of themobile client device is then-currently located; the identified zonecomprises the geographic zone; and the mobile client device comprises atleast an Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled device.
 10. Computer readableapparatus comprising a non-transitory storage medium, the non-transitorystorage medium comprising at least one computer program having aplurality of instructions, the plurality of instructions configured to,when executed on a processing apparatus: receive data representative ofa request for digitally rendered primary content from a computerizednon-legacy client device of a user, the data representative of therequest comprising user identification data; obtain subscriber billingaddress data associated with the user identification data; based on atleast a portion of the subscriber billing address data, identify one ormore secondary content zones associated with the user; formulate, via afirst computerized process configured to utilize data associated withthe one or more secondary content zones, a rule relating to selection ofdigitally rendered secondary content for delivery thereof from a legacyvideo on-demand (VOD) server apparatus of a managed content deliverynetwork and to the computerized non-legacy client device; and cause therule to be implemented with respect to the request for the digitallyrendered primary content, the implementation comprising insertion of thedigitally rendered secondary content in the digitally rendered primarycontent.
 11. The computer readable apparatus of claim 10, wherein theplurality of instructions are further configured to, when executed onthe processing apparatus: receive data relating to a preferenceregarding a plurality of digitally rendered secondary content, thepreference configurable by the user via a computerized user interface ofthe computerized non-legacy client device; and wherein the firstcomputerized process is further configured to utilize the data relatingto the preference in the formulation of the rule.
 12. The computerreadable apparatus of claim 11, wherein the identification of the one ormore secondary content zones comprises determination of a geographicallocation of a computerized legacy device associated with the user, thecomputerized legacy device in data communication with the computerizednon-legacy client device via at least one of the managed contentdelivery network or an unmanaged internetwork.
 13. The computer readableapparatus of claim 12, wherein: the receipt of the data relating to thepreference regarding a plurality of digitally rendered secondary contentcomprises receipt of data indicative of a preference regarding a type ofadvertising the user desires to receive at the computerized non-legacyclient device, the type relating to at least one of (i) the geographicallocation of the computerized legacy device, or (ii) a then-currentgeographical location of the computerized non-legacy client device; theone or more secondary content zones correspond to at least one of (i)the geographical location of the computerized legacy device, or (ii) thegeographical location of the computerized non-legacy client device; andthe geographical location of the computerized legacy device comprises aknown fixed location of a premises of the user.
 14. The computerreadable apparatus of claim 10, wherein the causation of the rule to beimplemented comprises automatic causation of the rule to be implementedbased on data indicative of a number of requests for the digitallyrendered secondary content meeting or exceeding a predeterminedthreshold.
 15. The computer readable apparatus of claim 10, wherein theimplementation further comprises generation of one or more variants ofthe digitally rendered secondary content, the one or more variants beingspecific to the one or more secondary content zones, respectively. 16.The computer readable apparatus of claim 15, wherein at least one of theone or more variants specific to at least one of the one or moresecondary content zones comprises advertising related to a feminineproduct delivered to a secondary content zone having predominantlyfemale audience.
 17. The computer readable apparatus of claim 10,wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to, whenexecuted on the processing apparatus: evaluate data of an accountassociated to the user to determine one or more characteristicsassociated with the user and generate data indicative of the one or morecharacteristics; wherein the first computerized process is furtherconfigured to utilize data relating to a context of the digitallyrendered secondary content that is appropriate for the one or morecharacteristics based at least on comparison of at least a portion ofthe generated data indicative of the one or more characteristics andmetadata of the digitally rendered secondary content, in the formulationof the rule.
 18. The computer readable apparatus of claim 17, whereinthe plurality of instructions are further configured to, when executedon the processing apparatus: algorithmically analyze the metadata of thedigitally rendered secondary content to determine the context thereof.19. Computerized network apparatus configured to operate in a datanetwork, the computerized network apparatus comprising: data interfaceapparatus configured to receive data representative of a request fordigitally rendered primary content, the data representative of therequest (i) originating from a computerized mobile device, and (ii)comprising at least user identification data associated with a user ofthe computerized non-legacy client device; digital processor apparatus;and storage apparatus in data communication with the digital processorapparatus, the storage apparatus comprising at least one computerprogram configured to, when executed on the digital processor apparatus:transmit the user identification information to a computerized networkentity of the data network; based at least on the transmission of theuser identification information, receive billing address data from thecomputerized network entity; utilize at least a portion of the billingaddress data to identify at least one secondary content zone;algorithmically determine a rule regarding selection and transmission ofappropriate digitally rendered secondary content for the computerizedmobile client device, wherein the selection is based at least in part onthe identified zone, and the transmission is configured to be effectedfrom a legacy-based video on-demand (VOD) server apparatus; and causethe rule to be implemented at least with respect to the request for thedigitally rendered primary content, the implementation comprisinginsertion of the appropriate digitally rendered secondary content in thedigitally rendered primary content.
 20. The computerized networkapparatus of claim 19, wherein the selection is further based at leaston data relating to a subscription level associated with either thecomputerized mobile device or a user thereof.
 21. The computerizednetwork apparatus of claim 19, wherein the selection is further based atleast on data relating to an expiration date of the digitally renderedsecondary content, the expiration date comprising a prescribed dateafter which digitally rendered primary content was originallybroadcasted.
 22. The computerized network apparatus of claim 19,wherein: the receipt of the data representative of the request fordigitally rendered primary content comprises receipt of the datarepresentative of the request for digitally rendered primary contentindirectly from a computerized legacy client device.
 23. Thecomputerized network apparatus of claim 19, wherein the computerizednetwork entity comprises a computerized billing process configured toprovide the billing address data.
 24. The computerized network apparatusof claim 19, wherein the digitally rendered primary content is stored atthe legacy-based computerized VOD server apparatus as a plurality ofsegments, and the provision of the digitally rendered primary contentand the digitally rendered secondary content to the computerized mobiledevice comprises creation of a single data stream comprising theplurality of segments having one or more elements of the digitallyrendered secondary content inserted therein.